Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would have banned a party like BJP if she were alive today, news agency ANI reported.
Gehlot was speaking on the need for opposition unity and called for the strengthening of the INDIA alliance, saying that its leadership should be given to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
“If a leader like Indira Gandhi were alive today, she would have banned a party like the BJP,” he said.
“There is a need to strengthen the INDIA alliance… I also stated that the INDIA alliance should openly give leadership to Rahul Gandhi…”
Gehlot also expressed concern about the current political environment in the country, describing it as “dangerous.”
“In my lifetime, I have witnessed many situations, but the atmosphere in the country today is dangerous,” he said, as per ANI.
He further said that once the public will realise and stand with congress, parties allied with NDA and BJP will turn against them.
“When the public realises—and truly stands with the Congress—then the parties currently allied with the NDA and the BJP will turn against the BJP…”
Gehlot also took a jibe at the ruling party, BJP, and accused them of weakening the country by deliberately pushing a religious agenda.
“What is their (BJP) mindset? They are weakening the country by deliberately pushing a religious agenda—targeting Muslims… They do this to show the citizens that they are a ‘Hindutva’ party…”
Earlier, the Congress leader had urged all parties that parted ways with Congress to rejoin and “wholeheartedly” accept Rahul as its leader.
