The Congress party on Monday slammed the BJP over the death threat issued against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
The party had also written to Home Minister Amit Shah demanding “immediate and exemplary” legal action against Printu Mahadev, spokesperson of Kerala BJP after he said " Rahul Gandhi will be shot in the chest".
“The BJP has crossed all limits. This is no off-the-cuff remark or hyperbole. This is a cold and calculated death threat to a leader who stands with every Indian in the fight for justice,” the party said.
The Congress in an X post asked if this was part of a “larger, sinister conspiracy” being hatched against Rahul Gandhi.
“Does the BJP endorse the politics of criminal intimidation, violence and even death threats,” the Congress wrote in its post.
In the debate on the News18 Malayalam channel, BJP's Printu Mahadev spoke in Malayalam, a clip of which was shared by Congress leader KC Venugopal.
“In the popular protests in Bangladesh, the people were not with them (government) there. Here, in India, the people are with the Narendra Modi government. Therefore, if Rahul Gandhi sets out with such a desire or dream, a bullet will fall even on Rahul Gandhi's chest,” he said.
Venugopal wrote on X, "Disagreements in the political arena must be solved politically, within the constitutional framework. BJP leaders, however, are giving death threats to their political opponents on live TV. Surely, RahulGandhi ji’s vehement fight against the RSS-BJP ideology has rattled them."
Calling the threat “cold, calculated and chilling”, the party demanded urgent action. It said, "This is neither a slip of the tongue, nor careless hyperbole. It is a cold, calculated and chilling death threat against the leader of the opposition and one of India's foremost political leaders."
The letter also pointed to multiple previous threats against Rahul Gandhi on social media, some linked to the BJP, and mentioned the assassination of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
The party called the threat a "careless outburst of a petty functionary, symptomatic of a deliberately cultivated, toxic atmosphere of hate that renders the Lop vulnerable to mindless violence."
It urged the home minister to act immediately and decisively, warning that failure to do so would amount to “a de facto licence” for legitimising violence against Rahul Gandhi.
"Any failure by you to act swiftly, decisively and publicly will be judged as complicity a de facto licence for the legitimisation and normalisation of violence against the leader of the opposition and a grave breach of your oath as Union home minister," it said.
Meanwhile, Police on Monday registered a case against BJP leader Printu Mahadevan for his alleged remark during a television debate that bullets would be fired at the Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, officials said.
The case was filed by the Peramangalam police based on a complaint from Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) secretary Sreekumar C C.
The FIR cites provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita – Section 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), Section 353 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and Section 351(2) (criminal intimidation).
