New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS): Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari on Wednesday slammed the BJP and its allies for "chop off Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's tongue" remark and said they are creating an environment of hatred and violence in the country.
"First a Cabinet Minister of State in the Government of India, then a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Then BJP leader Marwah threatened to kill him like his grandmother. Now, a Shiv Sena MLA has announced a reward of Rs 11,00,000 to cut off his tongue. BJP and its alliance partners are creating an environment of hatred and violence in the country and this is dangerous," he told IANS.
He asserted that if there is any lapse in the security of LoP Rahul Gandhi then the Indian government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah would be responsible for it.
"Let me make it very clear, we lost former PM Rajiv Gandhi and his mother late PM Indira Gandhi to terrorism. We are not afraid of terrorism. We do not even bow down and salute terrorism like the BJP," he stated.
"We keep speaking out against terrorism, we are speaking and will continue to speak. Yes, some Jai Chands like Ravneet Singh Bittu who have gone to the BJP are now speaking the same things as much as they are being asked to," Tiwari added.
He also hit out at PM Modi and HM Shah and said, "Amit Shah, you do not even answer during press conferences. PM Modi, you eat kheer after going to Odisha but you do not say anything about this bitterness."
Tiwari asserted that the Congress has filed an FIR and fulfilled its duty by taking whatever legal action is expected.
“We have provided all the details where we received the threats from various BJP leaders and its allies, calling for bodily harm and assassination of Rahul Gandhi and calling the LoP a 'terrorist' at New Delhi’s Tughlak Road police station.
"Now, it is the responsibility of the Indian government to take cognisance of it. Tughlak Road comes under the Home Ministry of the Indian government. We have fulfilled our responsibility and now it's up to the Centre what they will do in this matter," Tiwari concluded.
On Wednesday, adding fuel to the already raging controversy over calls to harm LoP Rahul Gandhi, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Anil Bonde has called for ‘burning’ the tongue of the Congress leader.
Sparking a fresh row and leaving the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders fuming, Bonde made the controversial remarks while reacting to ruling Shiv Sena’s Buldhana MLA, Sanjay Gaikwad’s comments against the LoP.
Sanjay Gaikwad announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh to anybody who could ‘snip off’ Rahul Gandhi’s tongue for his purported stand against reservation during his recent US tour.
Bonde said that instead of chopping off Rahul Gandhi’s tongue, it should be inflicted with burns (‘chatka’), as he had gone abroad and allegedly insulted the country.