Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu booked for calling Rahul Gandhi ‘No 1 terrorist’: ‘Why should I regret…?’

Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu remained defiant on Thursday after being booked for his comments against Rahul Gandhi. The senior politician had recently waded into controversy after insisting that the Leader of Opposition was not a true Indian and dubbing him ‘the number one terrorist’. Congress leaders have issued a call for nation-wide protest against four NDA leaders over their controversial remarks against Gandhi.

“Why should I regret? We in Punjab have lost our generations. The Gandhi family burnt Punjab...My pain is as a Sikh. I am a minister later, a Sikh first. If (Gurpatwant Singh) Pannu endorses it (Rahul Gandhi's statement) what will you say? Kharge sahab should apologise. He should clarify if he thinks that Sikhs are not allowed- whatever Rahul Gandhi said in the speech...” the Minister of State for Railways told reporters on Thursday.

The case was filed at a Bengaluru police station on the basis of a complaint by an officer-bearers of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. Earlier on Wednesday, Tripura Pradesh Congress President Asish Kumar Saha had also filed a complaint against several NDA leaders including Bittu for their recent remarks against Gandhi. 

Bittu — the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh who was killed in a bomb blast — however remained unfazed by the backlash. The BJP leader said he was “not at all concerned” by the development and accused the Gandhi family of “burning Punjab”.

“Congress Party always tries to intimidate by filing FIRs and police cases. I am not at all concerned. Whatever Rahul Gandhi has said about the conditions of Sikhs in India, how can I subscribe to that view. Rahul Gandhi and his party can file 100 FIRs, I will speak for the unity of the country. I am from the family which did not bother about bullets,” he reiterated.

Several BJP leaders had been left fuming last week after the Congress leader lashed out at the ruling NDA during a trip to the US. Bittu had taken umbrage over Gandhi's remarks on Sikhs and claimed that the LoP did not ‘love his country’.

“Rahul Gandhi is not an Indian, he has spent most of his time outside. He does not love his country much because he goes abroad and says everything in the wrong way. The people who are most wanted, separatists, and experts in making bombs, guns, and shells, have appreciated what Rahul Gandhi has said. The enemies of the country who try to blow up planes, trains, and roads, are in support of Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi is the country's number one terrorist. The biggest enemy of the country whom the agencies should catch is Rahul Gandhi today,” he had said.