New Delhi: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who has been targeted repeatedly by the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for calling the Congress a “party for Muslims”, finally reacted to the controversy on Tuesday by choosing to smash the BJP’s Hindu-Muslim binary worldview with a poignant message of inclusiveness.
“I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalised and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me. I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear. I love all living beings. I am the Congress,” the 47-year-old Congress chief tweeted. But the BJP, ignoring the nuance and secular sentiment in his tweet, chose to attack him further. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters that Mr Gandhi had not denied the comment attributed to him.
“He (Gandhi) has still not denied it. We could not see a negation of what Rahul Gandhi has said. It is a confession. He has clearly accepted it through his tweet that the Congress is a party for Muslims,” Mr Patra said. He further added that Mr Gandhi’s tweet has further confused rather than clarified the issue. The Congress president, he said, is in “competition with AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi to usurp the legacy of Mr Jinnah”.
