NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday flagged a purported video of a man claiming to be from Karni Sena issuing death threats to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and "25 other MPs", and said the RSS-BJP ecosystem is a "Godse factory".
The opposition party also alleged that there is a deliberate campaign to demonise the opposition, and legitimise violence against political rivals, especially Gandhi.
The man, who purportedly issued the video threatening to shoot Gandhi and 25 other Congress MPs, has been detained by the Kota police.
Superintendent of Police, Kota, Tejaswani Gautam told PTI that the accused man has been detained in Borkheda police station and being questioned regarding the statement.
The man, who identified himself as Raj Singh, had issued the video statement, saying that all BJP and Karni Sena workers are deeply angered by the way 25 Congress MPs verbally abused Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
"If such an incident occurs again, we will enter the homes of those MPs and vandalize their homes. I believe this incident occurred on Rahul Gandhi's orders. Rahul Gandhi, listen carefully: if such an incident occurs again, we will barge into your home and shoot you," he said in the video.
"If those MPs are arrested within 24 hours, that is fine, otherwise we will shoot them all one by one," he said, while identifying himself a spokesperson for the Karni Sena.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera shared the video on X and slammed the RSS-BJP.
In his post, Khera said, "The RSS-BJP ecosystem is a 'Godse factory'. The threat issued by the so called Karni Sena against Rahul Gandhi and the '25 Members of Parliament' is not an isolated outburst. It is the part of a calculated and devious plan."
First, Kiren Rijiju publicly "lied and misled" the nation that Congress MPs abused Om Birla, a claim contradicted by available video footage, which shows no such abuse, Khera said, adding that the Speaker is seen smiling during the exchange.
"Then, BJP MPs across platforms began echoing a strikingly similar line: that Rahul Gandhi poses 'the biggest threat to India’s national security.' This is a deliberate campaign to demonise the opposition, and legitimise violence against political rivals - especially Rahul Ji," Khera said.
"This is how radicalisation works: they manufacture a lie, amplify it through repetition, sanctify it with political authority, and circulate it until their followers are incited to hatred and violence. This is how Godse was created then. This is how another Godse is being instigated today," the Congress leader said.
Asked about the video at a press briefing, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate lashed out at the BJP and said that despite the open threats against MPs no action has been taken against the man in the video.
"I want to ask Om Birla ji, the goon in this video calls himself your supporter from the Karni Sena -- Do you have no objection to this video? What is the Home Minister doing? There is pin drop silence even as a goon openly threatens to shoot MPs and the Leader of Opposition," Shrinate said.
She also asked why an FIR had not been registered in this matter and why is the government silent.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said "self-proclaimed Modi bhakts are brazenly issuing death threats against Rahul Gandhi in broad daylight - without any reprimand from the ruling regime".
"This is a direct result of the toxic culture of animosity and vengeance created by the BJP in national discourse - right from Parliament to political rallies. They treat political opponents as die-hard enemies to be eliminated, and their foot soldiers - blinded by hate - are unleashed to intimidate opposition leaders," he said on X.
"However, the BJP-RSS ecosystem forgets - Rahul ji is from the legacy of Indira Gandhi ji and Rajiv Gandhi ji, & he has given us all the slogan of Daro Mat!He will not be deterred by such cheap trolls and will continue to face each adversary head on," he added.