The BJP on Friday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his criticism of the Election Commission’s decision in the Trinamool Congress symbol dispute, asking him to look at the history of his own party before making allegations.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi accused the Congress of toppling governments by withdrawing support, citing the administrations of former Prime Ministers HD Deve Gowda, Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar and IK Gujral.
“Before levelling allegations against the BJP, Rahul Gandhi should first look at the history of his own party. If Rahul Gandhi does not know the history of his own party, he does not deserve to be leader of his own party, leave aside continuing as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha,” Trivedi said.
He claimed that the BJP was the only major political party in the country to have never witnessed a “vertical division” and said it had upheld democratic values when attacked by the Congress.
The BJP’s response came after Gandhi backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee amid the dispute over the TMC’s name and election symbol. He accused the BJP of “government chori” and “party chori” after earlier alleging “vote chori”.
Gandhi said the issue was not just Banerjee’s fight but concerned every political party and voter seeking free and fair elections.
The Election Commission on Thursday night barred the rival TMC factions from using the party’s name and reserved symbol for the upcoming West Bengal bypolls and asked them to submit alternative names and symbols.
(With inputs from PTI)