For RSS remark, BJP says Cong chief ‘immature’

NEWDELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday, calling him an “immature and ignorant leader” over his comments likening the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Gandhi is currently on a tour of Europe, where he has addressed several meetings. In one of them, he said the RSS was like the Muslim Brotherhood, which, according to him, wanted to run every institution according to a particular ideology.

The comparison, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, was unforgivable.

“Those who have read European history, know about King James I. He and his courtiers considered him as a wise man while most of the critics felt he was constantly doing foolish things. He was given the title of “wisest fool” of Christinadom,” said another BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi. “Rahul Gandhi is the wisest fool of Congressdom.”

Trivedi said while Gandhi aspired to be prime minister of the country, he was not even “capable of becoming a mature opposition leader.” Gandhi cannot claim the legacy of the Congress of Bal Gangadhar Tilak who spoke about Purna Swaraj, and Mahatma Gandhi who gave the call for Hind Swaraj, he said.

Trivedi said Gandhi should use his “frequent” trips abroad to also read reports from international agencies that, the BJP spokesperson said, have given a thumbs-up to the Indian economy. The International Monetary Fund has predicted that India will surpass China in growth rate soon, take over UK as the fifth largest economy by 2020, and it was for the first time in 14 years that rating agency Moody’s improved India’s rating, he said.

The BJP spokesperson also recalled the anti-sikh riots of 1984 to attack the Congress president.

The party also slammed Gandhi for “defending the ISIS (Islamic State)” and making comparisons with India.

Trivedi said Gandhi claimed the IS was founded because of unemployment, but, he pointed out, that Al Qaeda’s Osama Bin Laden was not unemployed or misguided. “He was a billionaire. Those who were involved in 9/11 attack were not unemployed,” Trivedi said. In another press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra demanded that Gandhi must apologise to 125 crore Indians and stop acting like a “contract killer for the idea of India”.

Patra too reacted strongly to Gandhi’s Muslim Brotherhood barb and asked if a terrorist outfit was ruling over India. “Are you suggesting that government of India is working like a terrorist organsiation and expanding through invasion,” Patra said, a question meant for Gandhi.