Venugopal's letter to Shah flags 'death threat' to Rahul Gandhi

Congress general secretary and PAC chairperson K C Venugopal on Sunday has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleging a “cold, calculated and chilling death threat” against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi by BJP spokesperson Printu Mahadev during a live television debate.

In his letter dated September 28, the Lok Sabha MP Venugopal said that Mahadev openly declared that “Rahul Gandhi will be shot in the chest,” describing it as “neither a slip of the tongue, nor careless hyperbole. It is a cold, calculated and chilling death threat against the Leader of the Opposition and one of India’s foremost political leaders.”

Venugopal warned that such words “not only place the life of Rahul Gandhi in immediate danger, but also undermine the Constitution, the rule of law, and the basic security assurances owed to every citizen – let alone the Leader of the Opposition.”

The Congress leader flagged repeated security alerts already raised by the CRPF and expressed alarm that one such letter addressed to party president Mallikarjun Kharge was “leaked to the media under mysterious circumstances.”

Against this backdrop, Venugopal said it was “utterly reprehensible that a spokesperson of the BJP felt emboldened enough to issue an open death threat that carries the stench of a larger, sinister conspiracy being cultivated to validate violence against Rahul Gandhi.”

The letter further alleged that “multiple instances of death threats and calls for violence against Rahul Gandhi” have been spread through social media platforms “backed or linked to the BJP.”

Venugopal demanded clarity from Shah, writing: “Do you openly endorse the politics of criminal intimidation, death threats and violence that are poisoning India’s public life?”

Calling Rahul Gandhi “a living embodiment of service and steadfast commitment to India’s pluralistic ethos” and invoking the assassinations of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, Venugopal stressed that “a death threat against Rahul Gandhi is not merely an attack on an individual; it is an assault on the democratic spirit he represents.”

The letter concluded with a direct warning to the Home Minister: “Any failure by you to act swiftly, decisively and publicly will be judged as complicity – a de facto licence for the legitimisation and normalisation of violence against the Leader of the Opposition and a grave breach of your oath as Union Home Minister. The nation demands immediate, exemplary legal action through the state police so that justice is swift, visible and severe.”