CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: With about a year left for the Punjab Assembly elections, a remark by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, calling Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu a “traitor,” has triggered a sharp political slugfest in the state, spilling over into Delhi with the BJP demanding action against Gandhi and the Congress hitting back, branding Bittu an “opportunist”.
In Punjab, the BJP accused Gandhi of insulting a Sikh leader and debasing political discourse. BJP Punjab working president Ashwani Sharma said the remark exposed the Congress’s “bankrupt mindset,” alleging that Gandhi was trying to mask political failures through “abusive and provocative language”. Sharma said the Congress did not need an opposition to defeat it, claiming that Gandhi alone was enough to hollow it out from within. He asserted that Bittu was working with dedication for Punjab’s development and that personal attacks reflected Congress’s frustration.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh termed Gandhi’s statement “extremely unfortunate and condemnable,” saying it insulted democratic decorum and hurt the dignity of the Sikh community. He invoked the “deep wound” of 1984, alleging that the country “had not forgotten the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family’s role during that period”, and demanded a “public apology” from Gandhi. Congress leaders in Punjab mounted a strong counter-offensive. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said
Bittu was a traitor for betraying the Congress and the Gandhi family, “who gave him everything”.
In Delhi, the controversy escalated with the BJP’s Sikh Cell staging a protest outside the Congress headquarters on Akbar Road. Protesters courted arrest, raising slogans against Gandhi. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Gandhi’s remark revealed a “deep-rooted attitude” of the Congress towards Sikhs.