New Delhi: Hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hurled a “traitor” barb at Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, the BJP Wednesday kicked up a firestorm over the remark, calling it a “slur on every Sikh”, and demanded the Lok Sabha speaker take action against the Leader of Opposition.
Reacting to the remark made when Bittu crossed Gandhi’s path at the entrance of the new Parliament building, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the Congress leader had crossed all limits of civility.
The BJP fielded its Sikh leaders, including Puri and Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, to accuse the Congress of harbouring the same “anti-Sikh mentality” that was on display at the height of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.
Sirsa said the “real traitor” was the Gandhi family that desecrated the Golden Temple in Amritsar with tanks and guns and burnt Sikhs alive by putting tyres around their necks.
Bittu, a three-time MP from Ludhiana and Anandpur Sahib, is serving as the Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries. He switched to the BJP from the Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
While Bittu was entering Parliament Wednesday morning, Gandhi called him “a traitor” as the minister retorted with “desh ke dushman” (enemy of the nation) jibe,
The incident took place right outside Parliament’s Makar Dwar, the main entrance which MPs take to enter the new Parliament building, where Gandhi was standing in solidarity with suspended Congress MPs, mostly from Punjab, who were protesting on the stairs.
Seeing them, Bittu said, “They (suspended Congress MPs) are sitting here as if they have won a war.”
Gandhi said, “The thing is, here is a traitor walking right by. Take a look at the face. How he looks.”
Gandhi then extended his hand towards Bittu for a handshake and said, “Hello brother, my traitor friend. Don’t worry, you will come back (to the Congress).”
Bittu, however, refused the handshake and said, “Desh ke dushman,” pointing at Gandhi.
In videos posted by the Congress, the Union minister can be seen springing past the Makar Dwar stairs, repeating his “desh ke dushman” charge while pointing at the Congress leaders and suspended MPs, who continued to jeer at him.
They were also heard saying, “Surrender, surrender.”
Bittu later called the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s “bigda hua beta” (spoiled child), and asked, “Why didn’t he say such a thing to so many other MPs, but only to a Sikh?”
“They (Gandhis) think they are the biggest ‘deshbhakts’ (patriots) as his father (Rajiv Gandhi) had sacrificed his life. I had this fight in the party that my grandfather, Beant Singh, was martyred in Punjab due to the fire ignited by the Gandhi family.
“They attacked the most sacred gurdwara, the Golden Temple, and bullets were fired at Guru Granth Sahib. They demolished the Golden Temple and killed so many Punjabis. Their problem is that my grandfather’s name also came up along with Rajiv Gandhi’s name while naming martyrs.
“I am the grandson of a ‘shaheed’ (martyr), and as long as I was in the Congress, it was fine. But now that I am with the BJP, he is giving me such names. What do they think of themselves? After using such words, he is extending his hand to me. He thinks he is a ‘shehenshah’ (emperor) and as if he owns the country,” Bittu said in a video statement.
Bittu is the grandson of late Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated on August 31, 1995, in a suicide bombing at the Punjab Secretariat in Chandigarh.
The Union minister also said that when Gandhi extended his hand, he told the Congress leader that “he is the country’s traitor and ‘desh ke dushman’, who talks against the Indian Army and the country every day”.
“This Sardar will never join hands with the scion of the Gandhi family, who is a murderer of Sikhs and who demolished gurdwaras,” Bittu said.
Attacking Gandhi in a post on X, Hardeep Puri said, “The way Rahul Gandhi has addressed parliamentarian and respected Sikh leader Sardar Ravneet Singh Bittu Ji as a ‘Traitor’ crosses all boundaries of civility, decency and dignity.
“It is entirely possible that he holds a deep grudge against Bittu Ji for choosing the policies of ‘Vikas’ espoused by the Modi government over the directionless Congress. But that cannot ever justify such a slur against a proud Sikh whose grandfather was slain by terrorists.
“Calling someone a ‘traitor friend’ means he has betrayed his country. While Shri Gandhi may have many friends who are traitors, Shri Bittu is certainly not one of them. Calling a distinguished Sikh a traitor without any basis is a slur on the entire Sikh community.”
Puri also said that Gandhi should have known about the love for the land Sikhism teaches every Sikh, and “the valour with which Sikhs serve in the armed forces in large numbers to protect the sovereignty of Mother India before calling a disciple of Guru Sahibs a ‘traitor'”.
“His comment is an insult to the contributions made by Sikhs in every sphere. It is a slur on our faith and our love for the motherland. It is a slur on the sacrifice of Bittu Ji’s grandfather and former Punjab chief minister, Sardar Beant Singh Ji. Let us also not forget the desecration of the Golden Temple in 1984 with the same mindset,” Puri said.
Delhi minister Sirsa said that by calling Bittu, a proud Sikh, a traitor, Gandhi insulted the entire Sikh community, which made big sacrifices for the country.
“The Lok Sabha speaker must take action against Gandhi,” he said.
