3 BJP MPs cite Nehru-Gandhi family's 'history of spreading hate' 'insult' to Maneka-Varun to target Cong

New Delhi, Jun 8 (PTI) Three BJP MPs on Thursday hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his "mohabbat ki dukan" pitch to target the ruling party, as they accused him of spreading "hate" against India from foreign soil in the name of love and cited riots and alleged mistreatment of leading national leaders by the party since 1947.
    Lok Sabha MPs Poonam Mahajan (from Mumbai), Parvesh Sahib Singh (Delhi) and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Rajasthan) penned a nine-page letter, wondering if he was running "mohabbat ki dukan ya nafrat ka mega mall" (shop of love or mega mall of hate).
    The Congress leader has spewed a lot of hate against the motherland from the US, they alleged, adding that this is nothing new for his family and the party.
    Claiming that maximum riots happened under Congress governments, they highlighted the alleged mistreatment of many Congress leaders by the Nehru-Gandhi family and "inhumane" treatment meted out to some relatives by the family.
    Maneka Gandhi, a BJP MP and Rahul Gandhi's aunt, was allegedly forced out of home by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1982 even though her little son in her lap was reeling under a high temperature, they claimed.
    His grandmother had treated Maneka Gandhi with so much "mohabbat", they said in a dig at Rahul Gandhi.
     They said neither Sonia Gandhi nor him or his sister attended the wedding of Varun Gandhi despite the BJP MP going to their 10 Janpath residence to invite them personally. However, Varun Gandhi attended Priyanka Gandhi's wedding despite the "intolerable insult inflicted on his family by Indira Gandhi", they added.
    This shows the meaning of "mohabbat" for him and it is reflected in his personal relations as well, the BJP leaders said.
    They said thousands of people were killed in Maharashtra after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948 and added that Congress members claiming to give the "message of mohabbat" were behind it. They alleged that the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru made a speech which incited people instead of giving a message of peace and harmony.
    They also cited the death of many saints in a police firing during their protests against cow slaughter in 1966, when Indira Gandhi was at the helm, to target the party.
    The three relatively young BJP MPs also recalled the killings of Dalits and massacre of Sikhs in 1984, when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister, and noted that he had remarked that the earth shakes when a big tree falls, comments seized by critics as justification for the riots.
    Leaders accused of fanning violence became close to the Congress leadership, the MPs said in the letter.
    "It means you do not merely stoke fires of hate but also enjoy rubbing salt into the wounds," they said.
    The BJP leaders cited reports of Nehru's advise to the then president Rajendra Prasad against attending the funeral of Sardar Patel and his opposition to B R Ambedkar in elections to hit out at the Congress. Ambedkar was kept at the margins even though he was more qualified than Nehru in every sense, they claimed.
     They also referred to the way the then Congress president Sitaram Kesari was turfed out to install Sonia Gandhi in his place. In this context, they mentioned Ghulam Nabi Azad and claimed he was targeted after he led a group (G-23) of Congress leaders in seeking an overhaul of the party.
    Citing these examples of "mohabbat", they said instead of sowing hate in the name of the shop of love, Rahul Gandhi should work to understand the spirit of peace, harmony and unity.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)