New Delhi: The Congress on Friday demanded that the government must file an FIR over the purported "threat" from a BJP leader to the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and demanded a review of his security.
The Opposition party's assertion came in the wake of a clip of BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marvah purportedly "threatening" Rahul Gandhi.
Members of the Delhi BJP's Sikh cell had staged a protest on Wednesday against Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, near his 10, Janpath residence here, demanding an apology from him over his remarks in the US concerning the community.
"Rahul Gandhi baaz aaja nahi toh aane wale time mein tera bhi wohi haal hoga jo teri dadi ka haal hua (Rahul Gandhi, refrain from such things, otherwise in the coming time, you will also suffer the same fate as your grandmother)," Marwah was purportedly heard as saying in the video shared by several Congress leaders. Marwah, who won three Assembly polls on a Congress ticket, switched to the BJP in July 2022.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly and senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said, "When the Leader of the Opposition has received a threat from a BJP leader, then this FIR should have been filed by the government by now. If they don't do it then we will take the initiative."
"He is the Leader of the Opposition, a cabinet rank position. Your BJP man is saying this. First of all our demand is, if BJP is sincere, if they want to maintain democracy in India, if genuinely they are not with what 'Marwah' has said, they should have registered FIR by law and reviewed Rahul Gandhi Ji's security," Bajwa said.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said Rahul Gandhi has expressed concern at the way SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities are being treated in the country, and it might start happening with Sikhs too.
"He has spoken in favour of the rights of Sikhs, we appreciate him. The BJP is upset that Rahul Gandhi has spoken in favour of Sikhs. That is why it is presenting his statement in a distorted manner," Channi said.
"We are with what Rahul Gandhi has said. The BJP should stop playing with the sentiments of Sikhs. The BJP is trying to defame Rahul Gandhi in the name of Sikhs. They are constantly speaking against Rahul Gandhi and are threatening him with death. This is not good for the democratic system of India," Channi said.
Addressing a gathering of several hundred Indian Americans in Washington DC on Monday, Gandhi accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of considering some religions, languages, and communities inferior to others and said the fight in India is about this and not about politics.
Asking the name of a turbaned person in the gathering, Gandhi said, "The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That is what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions."
The BJP protesters had raised slogans against Gandhi, demanded his apology for "humiliating" Sikhs, and held the Congress responsible for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the country.