BJP attacks Rahul for his 'rape remarks', demands apology

The BJP on Friday launched a no-holds-barred attack, both inside and outside Parliament, against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his rape remarks and demanded an apology from Gandhi, who refused to do so, and instead asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tender an apology for calling Delhi a "rape capital" under the UPA government. The BJP disrupted proceedings in Rajya Sabha as well as in Lok Sabha, where the party protest, led by party's women MPs who assembled together just near the Well to attack Gandhi, derailed the scheduled business and forced Speaker Om Birla to adjourn the proceedings twice on the last day of the Winter Session.

Sticking to his guns, Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament, "as far as their (BJP's) demand for apologising (is concerned), I am never going to apologise to them." The Congress leader also said he has a video clip of Narendra Modi in his phone in which he is seen calling Delhi the 'rape capital' which he will post on Twitter for the whole country to see, and demanded Modi should apologise.

Later, Union minister Smriti Irani, who also led the attack against Gandhi in Lok Sabha, along with other BJP women parliamentarians petitioned the Election Commission demanding "severest action possible" against him, alleging that he has used rape incidents as a "political tool" to settle scores with Prime Minister Modi. Under the BJP's vociferous attack, the Congress leader alleged that the issue was being blown up only to divert the attention of the public from the country-wide protests over the Citizenship Amendment law.

Referring to his Jharkhand speech, Gandhi asserted "I had said that Narendra Modi had talked about 'Make in India' and we thought we would see 'Make in India' in all the newspapers. But, when we read newspapers we only see 'rape in India' everywhere. There is no BJP-ruled state where rapes are not happening against women. In Unnao, a BJP MLA committed rape against a woman, and also got an accident done of the victim's car, but Narendra Modi did not utter a single word and neither took any action." "What has happened is that Narendra Modi makes use of violence and spreads it and today there is violence in the entire country. there is violence against women, there is violence in the North East and in Kashmir, and there is violence in the entire country," he further alleged.

He said the main issue today is that "the BJP, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have burnt the entire North East and this is a tactic used to divert attention" by raising his rape remarks. "Modi should apologise. For burning the North East. For destroying India's economy. For this speech, a clip of which I'm attaching," Gandhi later tweeted.

Gandhi also said India's biggest strength was its economy and claimed that Raghuram Rajan (former RBI governor) during a meeting told him that no one talks about India or Indian economy any longer in the US or Europe. "And, when India is talked about it is about atrocities, division and violence. They have ruined the entire reputation of our country and this is what I talked about in my speech yesterday," he said.

Gandhi's 'rape in India' barb at the Modi government triggered furious reactions from senior BJP leaders and Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh who said leaders like him have no "moral right" to be in Parliament. Singh said the Modi government had started 'Make in India' programme to transform India from an importing nation into an exporting one.

It is aimed at providing employment to youth in the country but people are now rhyming it with remarks which cannot be uttered, Singh added. Irani said he had "insulted" the women and men of India and claimed his remarks amounted to inviting people to rape women.

Amid the din in the House, DMK's Kanimozhi defended Gandhi as Congress members also got up from their seats in protest and asked the Speaker to take up the Question Hour. She said Gandhi did not make the remarks in the House and that he was referring to cases of sexual assaults and violence against women in the country.

Kanimozhi's reaction came after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi asked her and NCP leader Supriya Sule to express their opinion about Gandhi's remarks. Joshi termed her response "unfortunate".

The protests began as soon as the House assembled. After the House paid tributes to those who had lost their lives in the 2001 Parliament attack on this day, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said several BJP members had given notices of adjournment on the issue and they should be allowed to speak. BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said Gandhi had insulted not only women of the country but everyone. All men are not rapists, she said.

After submitting the petition with the ECI, Irani told reporters that,"it is with a sense of outrage" that women MPs of BJP have approached the Commission. "We have beseeched the Commission that it is for the first time that a political leader has used rape for political mockery. The entire nation looks upon this constitutional authority (EC) to ensure that dignity of women is upheld and those politicians who seek to use rape as a political weapon are reprimanded with the severest punishment possible," she said.

Irani said the EC officials have assured the delegation that they will do justice after following legal procedures. They also handed over a memorandum to the EC. "Rahul Gandhi has grossly violated the letter and spirit of the Model Code of Conduct. He has inflicted irreparable hurt on the status of women in India," the memorandum reads.

Assembly polls are being held in Jharkhand in five phases. The counting of votes will take place on December 23. Congress' Randeep Surjewala hit back at Irani saying she is not just a minister but also a woman and should answer to the charges against BJP leaders Kuldeep Sengar and Nityanand.

He also put out a video of Irani evading questions on the rape accused BJP leaders and said she should not vent out false anger against Gandhi, after inaction against their own rape accused leaders. Other Union ministers who attacked Gandhi, included Nirmala Sitharaman and Nitin Gadkari.

While Gadkari dubbed Gandhi's statement as "unfortunate" not just for the country and democracy, but for the Congress as well, Sitharaman said the remarks were "horrendous".

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)