Rahul Gandhi ‘traitor’ remark against Bittu snowballs into huge controversy, protests – top developments | India News – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday stirred a fresh controversy after he took a jibe at BJP MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and called him “traitor friend.”While protesting at the Makar Dwar of the parliament complex over the suspension of Congress MPs, Rahul and Bittu engaged in a verbal altercation. While the Congress leader called Bittu a “traitor”, Bittu retorted by calling Rahul Gandhi and Congress MPs “Sadak ka gunda”.Reportedly, the war of words began when Bittu commented on the MPs protesting outside Parliament, saying, “They are sitting as if they won a war.”‘Unacceptable’Taking offence to the remarks, the Sikh leaders of BJP launched a sharp attack against Rahul Gandhi, calling the remark “unacceptable” and deeply offensive to the Sikh community.During a press conference, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri demanded an apology from the Congress leader and “This word, traitor, can not be taken lightly. The word is used for someone who has betrayed his country. This is a very sensitive issue for the Sikh community,” Puri said.Ravneet Singh Bittu is not just an MP elected from Ludhiana, he is not just a member of a Sikh family that has served the country, his grandfather, Sardar Beant Singh, who was the chief minister of Punjab, fell to an assassin’s bullet. And you call him a traitor. This is unacceptable,” he added.‘You were fine when I was with you’Countering Rahul Gandhi, Bittu recalling the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and accused Congress of indulging in attrocities on Sikhs. “They think they are the biggest patriots. I said, you are the biggest traitor of this country, the murderers of Sikhs. His goons killed thousands of Sikhs in this country. They vandalised our most sacred Gurudwara. When workers used to chant ‘shaheed’ for Rajiv Gandhi, they also used to also call Sardar Beant Singh ‘Shaheed-e-azam’. The problems in Punjab, the terrorism there – Sikhs were called, but action was not taken. So, it was Sardar Beant Singh who calmed Punjab,” Bittu said“You were fine when I was with you, but now that I am in the BJP, you are using such language. After such remarks, he is offering his hand as if he were a king,” the Union MoS added.BJP stages protest at Congress HQBJP leaders and workers staged a protest near the Congress headquarters on Akbar Road against Rahul Gandhi The protesters gathered at Mansingh Road near Congress headquarters, raising slogans “Sikh Sardar Hai, Rahul Gandhi Gaddar Hai”, and demanded an apology from the from the Congress leader 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.”