Members of the Indian Youth Congress and other Congress workers held protests against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders over their statement against Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
In videos shared by news agency ANI, people could be seen holding Congress' flag, standing on barricades and raising slogans in Delhi.
In a complaint, Congress leader Ajay Maken said Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Bittu had called Rahul Gandhi the "number one terrorist of the country" while speaking publicly to media on September 15.
"Mr. Bittu deliberately made statement to provoke public hatred and outrage against Mr. Gandhi, with the aim to incite violence and breach of peace. The said statement was widely publicized on TV channels and social media," Maken said.
Similarly, UP minister Raghuraj Singh had "also publicly said that Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi is the ‘number one terrorist of India’," Maken said in the complaint.
The Congress leader added that Sanjay Gaikwad, an MLA the Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena had publicly announced a bounty of ₹11 lakh "for anyone who will cut the tongue of Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi".
Maken also claimed that BJP Leader Tarvinder Singh Marwah had on September 11 openly issued "assassination threat against Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi, wherein he said that “Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja, nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua”, [you better behave, or you will meet the same fate as your grandmother]” (assassinated like former PM Indira Gandhi).
Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister MK Stalin, who is also a leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), expressed shock over "media reports of a BJP leader’s threat that Rahul Gandhi 'will meet the same fate as his grandmother,' and a Shinde Sena MLA’s bounty for cutting his tongue, along with other intimidating threats.”
Stalin posted on X, “My brother Rahul Gandhi’s charisma and growing public support have clearly unsettled many, leading to such vile acts of intimidation.”
“The Union government must act swiftly to ensure protection for the Leader of the Opposition and reaffirm that intimidation and violence have no place in our democracy,” he said.
The DMK is an ally of the Congress and part of the opposition's INDIA bloc.
