New Delhi [India], October 6 (ANI): BJP National spokesperson Sambit Patra launched a scathing attack on the Congress and the INDIA bloc ahead of their planned protest march to the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the opposition is attempting to create "anarchy" and weaken constitutional institutions solely to "launch and relaunch Rahul Gandhi."
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Patra accused the Congress party of orchestrating a "sponsored attempt" to dismantle democratic norms after failing repeatedly in electoral politics.
"A sponsored attempt is being made by opposition parties, especially the Congress, as to how a change of power can be brought about in the country and Rahul Gandhi be made to sit in power just like that. For this, a blow to India's democracy and constitutional bodies is being hurled in a sponsored manner," Patra said.
"This began not a few months ago; this has been in motion for years now. Since the beginning, Congress has been attempting to somehow launch and relaunch Rahul Gandhi. Despite several attempts, when Rahul Gandhi could not be launched, ultimately, Congress and some of its allies decided that even if they have to attack Indian democracy and establish anarchy in India, they will not desist from that, but in any which way, they will try to launch Rahul Gandhi," the BJP leader remarked.
Further slamming the planned march of INDIA bloc MPs to the Nirvachan Sadan, Patra stated, "After failing multiple times, Congress leaders decided to establish anarchy in the country and attack institutions... Today again, they are trying to create anarchy and undermine democratic institutions by allegedly marching towards the Election Commission."
Turning his guns on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks following a Supreme Court hearing regarding a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on Form 6, Patra alleged that Gandhi was misleading the public on two critical counts.
"Rahul Gandhi posted today regarding Form 6 after the hearing in the Supreme Court on the PIL. This is an attack on the Election Commission, but the second line mentions the BJP as well, so the BJP will respond to it. Rahul Gandhi has misled the public on two points," Patra asserted.
Explaining the first point, Patra said: "First, he claimed that Form 6 was illegal and specifically mentioned the Bharatiya Janata Party in this context. But the court did not declare Form 6 illegal today. The court noted that the petition mentioned changes to Form 6, so the court said it would examine the matter. We had not consented to any such changes. If any change has indeed been made, it will only become clear after the notice is issued."
"Even after that, when we read the detailed order and look at the Election Commission's press release... it becomes clear that the Commission had explicitly stated that there was no change in Form 6, and the Supreme Court had upheld the associated declaration. Therefore, there is no ambiguity here. When Rahul Gandhi claims that Form 6 was illegal and that the Supreme Court said so today, he is lying," he added.
Addressing the second accusation, the BJP MP cited official clarifications to counter Gandhi's claims of dissent within the poll panel.
"The second point on which Rahul Gandhi has misled the public is his claim that the decision was not unanimous, meaning that all three Election Commissioners did not take this decision together. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has clarified this in its fact-check," Patra said.
"The fact-check states that the order regarding SIR in Bihar was issued with the unanimous approval of the Commission. Subsequently, the Supreme Court of India upheld this order in its decision. It was indeed a unanimous decision with no room for doubt," Patra asserted, demanding accountability from the Congress leader for allegedly peddling falsehoods against constitutional bodies. (ANI)
"Creating anarchy to relaunch Rahul Gandhi": BJP's Sambit Patra hits out at Congress ahead of opposition march to EC
