Cong asks EC to take note of Anurag Thakur's provocative slogans at poll rally

The Congress on Tuesday said the rhetoric of the BJP in the campaign for Delhi Assembly polls reminds one of Germany in the 1930s and asked whether people want Gandhi's India or Godse's India which talks of "goli maaro...". The Congress on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to take note of provocative slogans raised at an election rally addressed by Union minister Anurag Thakur on Monday, after which the poll body issued a notice to him.

Triggering a row, Thakur had egged on participants during the rally in Rithala here to raise an incendiary slogan -- "traitors should be shot at" -- after he lashed out at anti-CAA protesters. Congress leaders in Delhi petitioned the EC to take action against BJP leaders who are allegedly polarising the upcoming polls and cited Thakur's provocative slogans.

"As every day passes, the rhetoric of the BJP reminds one of Germany in the 1930s," senior Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted. Slamming Thakur, he asked, "Will the Election Commission of India wake up from its slumber".

Noting that the Minister of State for Finance had exhorted people to respond with "goli maaro" slogans, he asked, "Will it not amount to inciting and encouraging violence against a section of the people?" Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said he was "deeply saddened" by Thakur's conduct.

"Saw a remote ray of hope of sanity in him, only to realise today that ministerial posts and uprightness make strange bedfellows," he tweeted. Another Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor, asked whether people wanted Gandhi's India which called for conversing with those who one disagrees with and removing their insecurities, or Godse's India that talked of 'goli maaro saa** ko".

"Gandhi's India - converse with those you disagree (sic) & remove their insecurities through dialogue. Godse's India - 'goli maaro saa** ko'. Which do we want: Gandhi's India or Godse's," he asked. After a man was seen brandishing a pistol at the Shaheen Bagh protest site, Tharoor said, "I hope some people are not taking the chants of 'goli maaro' literally".

Surjewala also said, "They in BJP say 'desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro sa*** ko' (shoot the traitors), we in the Congress say 'desh ke berozgaaron ko, kaam do saaron ko' (give employment to all). This is the only difference." PTI SKC SKC RDM RDM