New Delhi, Oct 28 — Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Nabin on Wednesday took potshots at the Gandhi family, saying that the 'Congress-I', a faction of the grand old party formed by former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi in January 1978, stands for "Italian Congress" rather than "Congress-Indira", while terming the party's electoral defeats as "purification" by citizens.
The BJP chief made the remarks while speaking at the ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ march at Delhi's Chandni Chowk. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra and Minister Parvesh Verma were also present.
Addressing a gathering, Nabin asserted that democracy is in safe hands under the BJP-led Centre.
"If democracy is in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then it is absolutely safe. Citizens know that 140 crore people of the country are the family of the son of the soil of the country - PM Modi," he said.
Targeting the Congress and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the BJP chief said: "The people who think that they are speaking for democracy...LoP Rahul Gandhi walks around with a copy of the Constitution; actually, he doesn't care about the Constitution. Whatever Rahul Gandhi says, the Congress deems it right, due to which the party is sinking lower and lower. If they continue to obey Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party will be wiped out."
Referring to the imposition of the 'Emergency' under the Congress regime in 1975 and the party's subsequent electoral defeat, he said: "To those so-called Congress leaders who try to turn one family's rules into the law of the country, I want to make it clear that the roots of Indian democracy are strong enough and you have already experienced this, even after imposing the Emergency...Whenever you have tried to undermine democracy, citizens have replied by punishing you (in elections)"
Further, Nabin accused the Congress of opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in order to protect its "political interests."
"There are crores of voters whose names appear in the voter list at two different places. There are also crores of voters whose addresses and whereabouts cannot be traced. They (Congress) wanted such 'ghost voter lists' to remain this way so that they could continue serving their political interests...But we (BJP) believe in purification," he said.
Referring to 'Congress (I)', Nabin said: "People thought that they would be known as Congress-Indira, but rather they are known as Italian Congress, having a distorted mindset. That is why the people of the country 'purify' them from time to time."
Accusing the party of not learning from its electoral defeats, he asserted that anarchy cannot have a place in the country.
"We are working for India's development, to take ahead the nation's heritage. As 'didi' (Delhi CM Rekha Gupta) was saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi won't go anywhere, rather he will be again seen hoisting the Tricolour at the ramparts of the Red Fort in 2029 (Independence Day) as well," he asserted.
Further, Nitin Nabin drew a parallel between the SIR process and the ritual followed by traders on Diwali festival where they worship and make new entries in the 'Bahi Khata' (account books) and delete those being repeated.
"This is because our traders believe that a clear account book reflects the credibility of businessmen. Similarly, voter list is the account book of a democracy. Whenever attempts are made to clean it, the Congress becomes restless," he alleged
Asserting that the 'Bahi Khaata' of the democracy will be "purified", the BJP chief stated: "The names of every genuine Indian citizen who is entitled to vote will be included in the voter list, while the names of infiltrators will be deleted. Every BJP worker is fully prepared to fight for this cause."
Moreover, Nitin Nabin also referred to the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) October 16 call for Tiranga Assembly in Delhi's Connaught Place, underlining that BJP members had hoisted the Tricolour for the first time at Jammu and Kashmir's Lal Chowk, despite peak militancy.
"Today, people are taking to the streets carrying the Tricolour and talking about hoisting it at Connaught Place. We should all remember the time when it was a challenge to hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk in Kashmir, an integral part of India. It was our party workers who, through their struggle and sacrifice, made it possible to hoist the Tricolour there," he said.
Notably, then-BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi, accompanied by now PM Narendra Modi and Indian troops, hoisted the national flag atop the clock tower at Lal Chowk for the first time during the peak of militancy, on January 26, 1992.
In a warning to the Opposition, Nabin added: "Even the Opposition leaders know that only if their views align with the Tricolour, they will be able to live in India."