Congress should boycott Rahul Gandhi and not journalists if it wants to benefit: BJP

The BJP on Friday took a swipe at the Congress over the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc's decision to boycott 14 broadcast media anchors, saying shunning the media or any other institution will do it no good and the party can only benefit by boycotting Rahul Gandhi as he has no strength.

There is no institution in India that this opposition alliance has not attacked, be it the Election Commission or courts, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters, wondering if the list of anchors is more a 'target list' or 'hit list' aimed at targeting them with FIRs.

Who will be responsible if some of these anchors are physically attacked tomorrow by some people, including members of these parties, he asked.

All institutions are doing their job well, he said before targeting Gandhi.

'If there is someone who is not up to it and who the Congress should indeed boycott for its own benefit, then his name is Rahul Gandhi... Your leader has no strength. Who all will you boycott? If you have to boycott and move ahead, then boycott your leader.' The Congress leader speaks about 'mohabbat' (love) but sells 'nafrat' (hate), he claimed.

Patra alleged that the journalists on the 'hit list' will be slapped with criminal cases and will not be spared.

Hitting out at the opposition for Congress leader Saifuddin Soz's and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah's pitch for talks with Pakistan, he said the remarks came soon after the death of security officials in an encounter with terrorists in Kashmir and added that the I.N.D.I.A bloc should boycott leaders like them instead of journalists.

Soz has asked the Union government to try to understand the minds of militants, he said, condemning the Congress leader. It is such a painful and unfortunate statement, he added.

Patra said the Congress has a history of going after the media, citing the first amendment brought by Jawaharlal Nehru to curb absolute freedom of expression, the Emergency promulgated by Indira Gandhi and the defamation law proposed by Rajiv Gandhi.

Congress leaders questioned the existence of Lord Ram while the likes of Bihar minister and RJD leader Chandra Shekhar targeted Ramchairtmanas. These leaders are not boycotted but journalists questioning these parties about corruption in states ruled by them and saying 'good things' about G20 and India are boycotted, he said.

'Netas can raise questions on God but journalists can't question these netas,' Patra said.

Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that the 'Congress-led alliance' of the opposition parties have decided to boycott 14 electronic media anchors as they are uncomfortable with their questions and do not want to give a reply.

'They are yet to come to power at Centre, a dream that will never fructify, but look at their arrogance; how they are showing blatant disregard to constitutional values by engaging in cancel culture,' he added.

Prasad said the boycott of these journalists by the opposition alliance is a grim reminder of the Emergency days when the government of the time used to arrest editors and impose censorship on media publications.

What is still more painful is the fact that the people who were part of the JP movement and opposed the Emergency and the Congress rule have also become part of this, he charged, adding, 'The dark days of Emergency are back even before they are in power at the Centre.' The BJP leader noted that the opposition parties' allegation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that the Constitution is being compromised under the current dispensation.

'But in reality, all the leaders of the I.N.D.I.A alliance, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar, and all their friends are actually compromising the constitutional values of freedom of speech and expression,' he said in a post on X.

'The people of India will give a befitting reply,' he added.