Reassuring the nation about his moral standards, Rahul Gandhi has once again insulted the country. As a reaction to that, Pandemonium prevailed in the parliament over the comment of Rahul Gandhi, while campaigning in the Jharkhand, Gandhi has coined ‘rape in India’ mocking the ‘Make in India’ campaign of the Modi government. Senior BJP leader and Minister Smriti Irani and Rajnath Singh alongside other leaders condemned the statement of Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi has been making such statements for a long time from defaming soldiers to giving lectures on inflation, anyhow this time he has crossed the line with such an abhorrent statement.
Rahul Gandhi’s “Rape in India” remark caused a furore in parliament as the BJP, including top ministers like Smriti Irani, tore into the Congress leader. The Lok Sabha adjourned repeatedly amid unrelenting protests and cries of “shame” from the government benches. Rahul Gandhi was earlier criticised for saying that India is now known as the “rape capital” of the world.
Smriti Irani expressing her anger over the statement said “For the first time in history, a leader is giving a clarion call that Indian women should be raped. Is this Rahul Gandhi’s message to the people of the country? He should be punished,” she said in the Lok Sabha.
#WATCH Union Minister Smriti Irani in Lok Sabha on Rahul Gandhi's 'rape in India' remark: This is first time in history that a leader is giving a clarion call that Indian women should be raped. Is this Rahul Gandhi's message to the people of the country? https://t.co/fRpcJ4TgIu pic.twitter.com/7ErDftk1MA
— ANI (@ANI) December 13, 2019
#WATCH BJP MP Locket Chatterjee in Lok Sabha on Rahul Gandhi's rape in India' remark: Modi ji said 'Make in India' but Rahul ji said 'rape in India', he is welcoming everybody that come and rape us..this is an insult to Indian women and to Bharat Mata. pic.twitter.com/nvBa9Bhwvj
— ANI (@ANI) December 13, 2019
On the other hand, to the surprise of everyone, Rahul Gandhi, who was not allowed by the Speaker to respond, told reporters outside: “I won’t apologise… Let me clarify what I said. I said the PM keeps talking about ‘Make In India’. So when one opens the newspaper one hoped that one would see news about it, but what do we see when we open the papers? We see so many cases of rapes,” he unrepentantly justified.
Not even realizing the gravity of his insensitive statement, he further went on and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of trying to divert focus from the protests in the northeast over the Citizenship Act.
Inside the parliament, BJP MPs raised slogans against Rahul Gandhi as an furious Irani continued her attacks on the Congress MP. “Not all men are rapists. This is an insult to India… Rahul Gandhi is touching 50, and doesn’t realize that such a statement seems like an invitation to rape in India,” said Smriti Irani.
Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh also reacted to this comment of Gandhi, “People who make such remarks have no moral right to be member of this house.”
Rahul Gandhi’s morality has been exposed by this abhorrent statement, Congress leadership needs to answer for his misdemeanours. The women leaders in BJP appear to make it clear that will not let this one slip easily. Earlier, BJP leader Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in the general elections of 2019, was aggressively heckled in the Lok Sabha by unruly Congress leaders, two of whom charged at her, while she tried to speak on womens’ safety issues. Taking notice of this clear intimidation, several BJP leaders demanded and apology from the Congress leaders.