Rahul’s dalali remark betrays Congress’ mindset, says Shah

BJP President Amit Shah on Friday attacked Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “ khoon ki dalaali (bartering soldiers’ blood)”.

“With his khoon ki dalali remarks, Rahul Gandhi has crossed all limits. I feel his use of such words is an insult to the bravery of the armed forces...I agree that the word dalali is part of their mindset as several scams took place during their rule,” he said.

Shah said: “Gandhi’s remarks depict the Congress’ mindset. There is a flaw in the thought process of their leadership. I strongly criticise his remarks. The word dalali should be restricted to Congress party only.”

The BJP chief claimed his party had not “politicised” the Army action across the Line of Control and described the BJP’s posters across poll-bound Uttar Pradesh as an expression of the enthusiasm of the party cadre.

At the same time, he described the strikes as evidence of the PM’s “zero tolerance for terrorism” and hailed Modi for having provided the “political will” for the strikes.

The BJP’s line, as the party chief’s press conference on Friday morning revealed, is to own the strikes and posit as the only political force aligned with national interest and the Army’s honour, while painting others as “dishonouring” the Army and siding with Pakistan.

“ Koi tehsil adhyaksh ne poster laga diya to politicisation ho gaya ? (If someone has put up a poster, how does it become politicisation?) We do not want to politicise it but we will take the issue to the people. The surgical strikes were done by the Army. But they are reflective of the PM’s zero tolerance for terror and the strikes had his political will.”

For this purpose, the BJP chief said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Arvind Kejriwal and other “anti-India” leaders who are serving Pakistani interests by raising doubts about the strikes. He also made it clear that no evidence of the strikes will be made public.

But his strongest words and condemnation was reserved for the Congress and Rahul Gandhi who, he said, have “aligned themselves to the dejection in Pakistan instead of joining in the enthusiasm of the Indian people and the Army”.

Shah said as had been proved in the past, the Congress Vice-President has failed to understand the popular sentiment and his party will pay for it. He made a reference to Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s famous “ maut ka saudagar (merchant of death)” reference to Modi during the Gujarat Assembly elections and again the term “ zahar ki kheti (harvest of poison)” during the Lok Sabha elections. Both times, the Congress lost heavily.

“After maut ka saudagar , the BJP, under Modiji’s leadership won a two-third mandate in Gujarat. After the zahar-Ki Kheti comment, we won a majority in the Lok Sabha. The Congress will have to wait and see where khoon ki dalaali will take them,” said Amit Shah.

On Rahul Gandhi’s Kisan Yatra, Shah took another jibe at the Congress leader saying the extent of his understanding of farmers’ issues goes to “potato factories” and there is “no need to take it seriously”.

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