New Delhi: As the assembly elections in Bihar are drawing closer, the political atmosphere has started to heat. Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday warned the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he would soon drop "vote chori hydrogen bomb” and what he claimed about Mahadevpura was just an "atom bomb".
The BJP hit out at Gandhi for his remarks. The saffron party termed the Congress MP’s statement “demeaning” and questioned Gandhi over the use of terms “hydrogen bomb” and “atom bomb”.
“Whenever I listen to Rahul Gandhi, inside or outside the Parliament, it takes time to understand what he is trying to say. Today he has said, 'maine atom bomb phoda hai ab mai hydrogen bomb phodunga' (I have dropped an atom bomb, now I will drop a hydrogen bomb)... How are the atom bomb and the hydrogen bomb related to the elections?” former union minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
“Why is Rahul Gandhi demeaning himself as the Leader of Opposition... The nation should understand, Rahul Gandhi is irresponsible,” he added.
Responding to Gandhi's allegations that the Election Commission and the BJP had conspired to steal votes in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, Prasad said that the poll body assured that booths should not be captured in Bihar.
"Thanks to the Election Commission that booths are not captured now in Bihar... They are deeply pained by the fact that they cannot capture booths now, which is why they demand ballot paper time and again... Their whole agitation against the Election Commission and the SIR is centred around 'give us the right and might to capture booths, tear away ballot papers, and let infiltrators vote'," the BJP leader stated.
Prasad also stated that during the ‘voter adhikar yatra’, Tejashwi Yadav was also seen behind Gandhi.
“Throughout their yatra, Rahul Gandhi was always in the front of the car, and Tejashwi Yadav stood behind him... Patna has two MPs, one of whom is me and the other is Misa Bharti. She was nowhere to be seen... Why has Tejashwi Yadav been reduced to a number 2 player in Bihar? Congress has no vote here and is completely at your mercy, and you have become a number 2 player,” he said.
Here’s What Rahul Gandhi Said:
Meanwhile, addressing a gathering on the last day of the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', Gandhi said that "forces who murdered Mahatma Gandhi are now trying to destroy the Constitution of India." Notably, during jis 16-day-long 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', the LoP also alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
"The forces that murdered Mahatma Gandhi, the same forces are trying to destroy the Constitution of Dr BR Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. We will not let them destroy the Constitution of India...We received a lot of support during the yatra. Every youth, children of Bihar stood with us," Gandhi said in Patna.
"I want to say to the people of BJP, that, in Mahadevpura, we had shown atom bomb, but soon we will come with a hydrogen bomb, BJP get ready. Their truth will be shown to the country. I express gratitude to the people of Bihar for helping us... I guarantee you, after the hydrogen bomb, Narendra Modi ji won't be able to show his face to this country," he added.
The Congress MP further termed the vote theft a "theft of rights, reservation, employment, education, democracy."
The assembly elections in Bihar are set to take place later this year. However, the Election Commission is yet to announce the dates.
