'Nalayak neta': BJP accuses Rahul Gandhi of dragging President into 'street fights'

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday branded Rahul Gandhi a “nalayak neta” over his remarks following the INDIA bloc delegation’s meeting with President Droupadi Murmu.

The party accused the Leader of the opposition of misrepresenting the interaction and drawing the country's highest constitutional office into the political row over alleged “vote chori”.

Addressing a press briefing, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra questioned Gandhi’s claim that the President had not denied the Opposition’s allegations of electoral irregularities, arguing that accepting a memorandum did not amount to endorsing its contents.

“Yesterday, you saw that some political leaders had gone to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Rahul Gandhi’s statement after coming out of the Rashtrapati Bhavan was equal to that of an incompetent leader 'Nalayak neta,” Patra said.

He further accused Gandhi of using inappropriate language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and constitutional institutions.

“He is the Leader of the opposition in the country, but when I say that he is an incompetent leader 'nalayak neta', it is because of the fact that, the entire country watched the kind of abusive language he used against the Prime Minister, the falsehoods he spread against the PM. The country has also witnessed the language you used against India's constitutional offices and institutions,” he said.

Patra also accused Rahul Gandhi of attempting to drag President Murmu into what he described as the “anarchy” the Congress leader was seeking to create on the streets of India.

Calling Gandhi an “anarchist”, the BJP spokesperson alleged that the Opposition was attempting to turn a constitutional interaction into a political confrontation.

“The anarchist Rahul Gandhi tried to pull the President of India into the anarchism which he's trying his best to conduct on the streets of India,” Patra said, adding that there had been no precedent for dragging the President into political street fights.

Questioning the Opposition's account of the meeting, Patra said accepting a memorandum was part of the established constitutional protocol and did not amount to endorsing its allegations.

“Yet, in the same breath, he claims that the President accepted their memorandum and suggests that she acknowledged their allegations, while also saying that she asked them to provide evidence. Why did they not take the evidence with them? Why did they not present it?” he asked.

Patra also challenged the Opposition to present its evidence before the Election Commission of India (ECI), asking, “When the Election Commission of India invites you to appear and present evidence, why do you not go?”

Earlier on Friday, Gandhi said on X that the INDIA bloc had submitted a memorandum alleging interference in India's electoral system by Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.

“I was shocked that the President did not deny Vote Chori. Instead, she asked us to bring her proof. We will bring her a mountain of it,” Gandhi wrote.

The delegation, led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Gandhi, included Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party leader Rajiv Rai, Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah.