Sonia Gandhi should remove 'Italian lenses' to see India's progress BJP

     New Delhi, Nov 7 (PTI) The BJP on Saturday lashed out at Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi for her remarks against it and the Modi government, asking her to remove "Italian lenses" to see India's all-round progress in the past 12 years.

     The party also decried Gandhi for "justifying" the imposition of Emergency on June 25, 1975, saying "her PR exercise cannot hide the truth", as described Gandhi's memoir as a "bundle of dishonesty with more of political rhetoric".

     Senior BJP leader Tarun Chugh, while reacting to Gandhi's remarks ahead the lead of her memoirs, alleged that the Congress' history has been one of dividing the country for decades through caste, religion and vote-bank politics, and asked her to write about the various scams under her party's rule, the 1984 anti Sikh riots and the Bhopal gas tragedy.

     "Gandhi is unable to digest the rise of Sanatan under the BJP-NDA rule," he charged.

     "Great damage" has been done over the last 12 years to the fabric of India, democracy and institutions, Gandhi has alleged, asserting that even after the Modi government goes, it will take time to restore the country's systems back to health.

     In an interview with The Hindu ahead of the launch of her book, 'Belonging: A Journey of Love', she also pointed out that people are now beginning to be restless and recognising the damage.

     Reacting sharply to Gandhi's remarks, Chugh told PTI Videos, "If you take off your Italian lenses, you will see India clearly: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas, and India rising as a global power at a 7.8 per cent (GDP) growth rate."

     "A new tide of faith is sweeping among the citizens across the nation today, but you cannot digest it," the BJP Rajya Sabha MP added.

     Chugh also reminded Gandhi of various "scams" that surfaced during the Congress rule and asked her to write about them as well.

     "Write the book by all means, but explain why you had tears in your eyes and cried all night when a terrorist was killed in the Batla House encounter? The nation wants to know why, to this day, you did not utter a single word on the martyrdom of Indian soldiers," the BJP leader said.

     Chugh also asked Gandhi to write about the 1984 anti Sikh riots, mentioning how Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi responded to the large-scale violence against the Sikh community, saying "ek bada ped girta hai to dharti hilti gai. ('when a big tree falls, the earth shakes).

     "You should write who from your family was involved in the Bofors gun kickbacks. You should write about why the culprits of the Bhopal gas tragedy were allowed to flee, and at whose behest?" the BJP leader said.

     "The country wants to know why you call India's culture dengue, sometimes a disease, sometimes an infection, and sometimes take vows to eradicate it," he added.

     India is the land of "sages, saints, ascetics and penance" and it will remain so, he said.

     Chugh also asked Gandhi to in her memoir whether she "became an Indian voter first or an Indian citizen. The country wants to know".

     Weighing in on the Emergency, Sonia Gandhi said in the interview that it was done constitutionally.

     "It was only after the Emergency that I came to know the true gravity of what had been happening. Yes, democratic rights had been curtailed and there was a suspension of habeas corpus, but it was done constitutionally," the former Congress chief said.

     "Yet, when I take myself back to that period and try and see it from Mrs Gandhi's point of view, I see her struggling to cope with the rapidly deteriorating prevailing circumstances: violent protests, government offices and public transport set on fire, widespread organised unrest and even a call for the bureaucracy and armed forces to disobey orders," Gandhi said.

     BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari decried Sonia Gandhi for "justifying" the imposition of Emergency.

     "She is trying to project Indira Gandhi as victim, but her PR exercise cannot hide the truth," he said in a post on X:

     "Indira Gandhi imposed emergency and Rajiv Gandhi carried forward that legacy by his famous comment -- 'Ek bada ped girta hai to dharti hilti hai' justifying 1984 massacre of Sikhs," Bhandari charged, adding that the "nation has not forgiven Gandhi-Vadra family, nation will not".

     "Sonia Gandhi cried for Babri, Sonia Gandhi cried for Batla House, Sonia Gandhi will do anything for vote bank. Congress hates Hindus," Bhandari said in another post on X.

     Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi described Gandhi's memoir as a "bundle of dishonesty with more of political rhetoric" and said it appears to be a compilation of the Congress party's old resolutions from the past 20-30 years.

     "Her memories and recollections are barely visible in it. Rather, it appears to be attacking the BJP and other non-Congress parties," the former Union minister added.

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