'Lying troll,' says Cong as BJP attacks Gandhis for 'treating Kharge as third-class citizen'

The BJP attacked the Congress for showing “disrespect” to Dalits and to a senior leader like Kharge.

Untouchables and third-class citizens

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, former Union Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Amit Malviya were among the BJP leaders, who targeted the Congress for allegedly insulting Mallikarjun Kharge.

Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X that it is “deeply disheartening to witness the disrespect shown towards a veteran Parliamentarian and Dalit leader like Shri Khargeji by the so-called Holy Trinity in Wayanad today”. The Congress, he alleged treats Dalits as "untouchabled and third-class citizens".

“Whether it’s the president of AICC or PCC, does the family take pride in humiliating those they treat as mere rubber stamps?” he asked in his post.

First family

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, meanwhile, in his post on X asked Kharge saheb where he was when “first family Priyanka Vadra ji was filing her nomination as Cong candidate for Wayanad”. He alleged that Kharge was kept outside because he’s not family.

“Self-respect & dignity sacrificed at the altar of arrogance & entitlement of the Sonia family. Just imagine if they treat senior Dalit leader & Party President like this, how they will treat people of Wayanad,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who lost the Thiruvananathapuram seat to sitting MP Shashi Tharoor in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Amit Malviya too asked if the Gandhis kept Kharge out because he is a Dalit? The official X handle of BJP India had also shared the same 30-second video on Wednesday night pointing out Rahul Gandhi will deprive the Dalit community of respect and opportunities.

"It's a victory of corruption of Gandhi family and dynastic politics and defeat of merit," the BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told the media. Bhatia claimed the assets declared by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in her poll affidavit are way below the assets she and her husband Robert Vadra possess.

"Assets of Robert Vadra declared in the poll affidavit are lower than the Income Tax Department's demand.... The total demand raised by Income Tax Department is Rs 75 crore," he said, alleging that Priyanka Vadra's poll affidavit is confession of corruption committed by the Gandhi family and Robert Vadra.

Congress hits back

In response to these social media posts, the Congress lashed out at the BJP for its false narrative and posted photographs of the Kharge seated beside Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi, when she was filing her Wayanad nomination.

Replying to Malviya’s post, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate called him a “cheap liar”. She lamented that he did not know “a thing or two about elections and how many people at any given time are allowed inside besides the candidate”.

Shrinate explained that Kharge ji, Sonia ji and Rahul Ji waited for some people to exit before they entered the room. “Now see these pics and shut up,” she said.

Lying troll

To Himanta Sarma, Shrinate was less charitable calling him a “liar” and besides asking him to “shut up and sit down”, she advised him to “speak and tweet even less — the world is witnessing your buffoonery.”

For Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Shrinate calling him a “lying troll” who she could not imagine had been a minister, she wanted to know how “despite losing the election and not being a Member of Parliament anymore, why he still has a grey badge? "Courtesy his former associates who now work with X?” she asked.