The BJP on Sunday attacked the Congress over its recent appointments in Uttar Pradesh and questioned the Gandhi family's alleged silence on Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who foiled an alleged attempt by his co-pilot to crash a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight.
Addressing reporters, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi slammed the Congress for appointing Aradhana Mishra as the Uttar Pradesh Congress president and Imran Masood as the working president.
Trivedi said the appointments on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi showed the "vast gap" between Mahatma Gandhi and the "Gandhis" of the Congress.
He accused Masood of being known for his past remark threatening to "chop Modi into pieces" and alleged that Mishra had once stopped party workers from raising the "Bharat Mata ki Jai" slogan and instead asked them to raise "Congress zindabaad".
The Congress on Friday appointed Mishra-Mona as the president of its Uttar Pradesh unit, replacing Ajay Rai, who had held the post since August 2023. The party also named Masood as working president and Chaudhary Virendra Singh as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the state.
Trivedi also targeted Congress leaders over their alleged silence on Machchhar, who was stabbed by his Omani co-pilot in the cockpit of flydubai flight FZ1073 while it was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
Despite sustaining serious injuries, Machchhar managed to prevent the alleged attempt to bring down the aircraft, which was carrying 174 people.
Trivedi accused the Gandhi family of showing "silent support to terrorism" by not publicly praising the pilot's actions.
He questioned why Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi had not expressed support for Machchhar, alleging that the party leadership was wary of losing its "vote bank".
The BJP leader said the Congress leadership's conduct should be viewed "very seriously" and demanded a response from the party.
(With inputs from PTI)