'Pathetic & Casteist mindset', Nadda slams Rahul over his remarks

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President JP Nadda on Friday attacked Rahul Gandhi over his "Modis are thieves" remark and alleged that by comparing OBC communities to thieves, Gandhi has shown a "pathetic and casteist mindset".

In a series of tweets, Nadda criticized Gandhi for his earlier remarks like "Chowkidar Chor Hai" and allegations of the Rafale scam. Nadda also alleged that Gandhi has always reduced levels of political discourse.

Nadda tweeted, "By comparing OBC communities to thieves, Rahul Gandhi has shown a pathetic and casteist mindset. However, his latest tirade is not surprising. For the last many years, he has always reduced levels of political discourse. Let me explain how in the thread below."

"Lies, personal slander, and negative politics are integral to Mr Rahul Gandhi. Let us go back to the time before 2019 - he was the newly minted Congress President and through the pre-election season his core issue was - the cooked-up Rafale scam. Wherever he went he spoke of it," he added.

"Mr Rahul Gandhi's acerbic Chowkidar Chor Hai remarks were also not appreciated by the Supreme Court and for that HE APOLOGIZED," he added.

He stated, "In the run-up to the 2019 polls, Rahul Gandhi kept repeating - Chowkidar Chor Hai not withstanding the harm he was doing to political discourse. He went on ranting against PM Narendra Modi even if it meant he was defeated in his own seat and his party wiped out nationally."

He further stated, "So much for Chowkidar Chor Hai that neither Congress leaders nor Congress allies appreciated this deep slander against PM Narendra Modi. In fact, this issue was also taken up in CWC where the senior Congress leaders even supposedly expressed their unhappiness on it."

"Now, Rahul Gandhi calls the entire OBC community thieves. He gets flak in the Courts but he refuses to apologize thus showing how deep-rooted his hatred for OBCs is. The people of India did not forgive him in 2019...in 2024 the punishment will be more severe," he added.

On Thursday, a Surat court sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark with the Congress leaders rallying in his support.

Rahul Gandhi made the "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" remark in April 2019, at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka.

The court approved Rahul Gandhi's bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts.