NEW DELHI: BJP leaders and workers on Wednesday staged a protest near the Congress headquarters on Akbar Road against Rahul Gandhi for calling Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu a "traitor" in the Parliament House Complex.
The protests came after a heated exchange broke out between Gandhi and Bittu --who switched to the BJP from the Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections-- outside Parliament's Makar Dwar earlier in the day.
In videos released by the Congress, Gandhi was heard calling Bittu "a traitor" and the minister retorting with "desh ke dushman" (enemy of the nation) jibe.
The incident took place right outside Parliament's Makar Dwar, the main entrance which MPs take to enter the new Parliament building, where Gandhi was standing in solidarity with suspended Congress MPs, mostly from Punjab.
The protesters, including several Sikh leaders of the BJP, marched from the Mansingh Road to the Congress headquarters and were stopped by the police at a barricade.
They raised slogans "Sikh Sardar Hai, Rahul Gandhi Gaddar Hai", and demanded an apology from the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Leading the protest, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that "Gandhi not just abused an individual but the entire Sikh community, which is the pride of the country."
Bittu, who belongs to the Sikh community, is a three-time MP and Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries.