'India' Bloc Standing By Parliament Security Breach Perpetrators, Says BJP

The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress and other 'INDIA' bloc constituents of indulging in "petty politics" over the December 13 Parliament security breach incident to shield those involved in it.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, the party's national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla alleged that the opposition 'INDIA' bloc parties are standing by the perpetrators of the security breach as their links with them were emerging.

He also took a jibe at the Congress over the launch of its crowd-funding campaign, alleging those who looted the country for 60 years were now seeking donations from the same country.

The Congress has started a 'Donate for Desh' campaign to deflect public attention from the "unparalleled corruption" in the party that has once again surfaced following the seizure of a huge amount of cash from its Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu, Mr Poonawalla claimed.

"There should never be petty politics on an issue as grave as national security and Parliament security," he said.

"But some people's political character and political DNA is such that they would indulge in petty politics on the issue of security also... there must be no compunctions in any of our minds to resonate in one voice and condemn the incident without ifs or buts," Mr Poonawalla charged.

The BJP leader said Rahul Gandhi, the Congress' "immature" leader, has "shamefully" justified the December 13 incident by saying that it happened because of unemployment and the issue of rising prices.

"Rahul Gandhi ji what has happened to you? ...After losing three assembly polls, you will come up with such illogical arguments on such an incident whose sole objective was to terrorise Parliament anyhow," he said.

"The Congress had stood by Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru also. Rahul Gandhi had visited JNU and stood by those who raised the slogans 'Bharat Tere Tukde Honge', 'Afzal Hum Sharminda Hain Tere Qatil Zinda Hain'," the BJP leader charged.

Mr Poonawalla asked whether Rahul Gandhi implied that if someone felt there was unemployment in the country or if a person was not getting a job, then such persons should enter Parliament with a canister and release smoke.

"Is Rahul Gandhi now down to inciting people and giving them ideas and suggestions that if you feel aggrieved about a particular political narrative, then you must also take a smoke bomb or smoke canister in your hand and enter Parliament? Is it the suggestion Rahul Gandhi is giving," the BJP leader added.

He alleged that it is not just the Congress that is trying to shield those involved in the December 13 incident but the entire "I.N.D.I. Alliance and their ecosystem".

"It is because the links of the perpetrators of the incident are coming out with the Congress party and some extremist radicalized Leftist organisations supported by it," Mr Poonawalla charged.

The BJP spokesperson also hit out at the Congress over a recent incident of crime against a tribal woman in Karnataka's Belagavi district and said it has shaken the conscience of the people.

"The BJP's fact-finding team has reached Belagavi to meet the victim," he said and asked when Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would visit Belagavi to meet the victim and ask questions to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about the incident.

Mr Poonawalla further said that the December 13 incident was not a one-off.

"There have been several such incidents in the past but they were not politicised ever," he said. "Does Rahul Gandhi accept that price rise and unemployment were at their heights when such incidents took place during his party's government in the past?" 

On Wednesday, two persons jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery, shouted slogans, and released coloured smoke from canisters that triggered panic and chaos in the House.

The BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya also slammed the Congress and said, "Rahul Gandhi never disappoints; always talks trash. For the record, unemployment in India is at 3.2%, the lowest in six years." "Instead, Rahul Gandhi and I.N.D.I Alliance leaders must explain the close linkages of those involved in the Parliament breach with Congress, TMC, and CPI(M). 

Rahul Gandhi, in particular, must clarify his association with Asim Sarode, who was part of Bharat Jodo Yatra and has offered to provide legal aid to the intruders," he added in a post in 'X'.

On the Congress' crowd-funding campaign, Mr Malviya said, "Don't be fooled by the Congress's lofty talk of this crowdsourcing being inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's historic Tilak Swaraj Fund".

"They will tarnish both the Mahatma and Tilak. Going by their previous track record, this will turn out to be nothing but another attempt to siphon off public money and enrich the Gandhis," he alleged.

"All the hard-earned money people donate, if they do, will go to the Gandhis, who will continue to enjoy the good life. Worse, the move will be reduced to nothing, but another means to solicit dirty money, the kind Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu has been caught with," Mr Malviya added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)