Rahul Gandhi should have reprimanded Partap Bajwa for insulting Manmohan Singh: Sunil Jakhar

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 19

Senior BJP leader Sunil Jakhar on Friday said Rahul Gandhi should have snubbed Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on the stage itself for the indirect reference to former prime minister Manmohan Singh and heaping insults on a man held in admiration by millions of Punjabis.

Bajwa at a public meeting in Pathankot on Thursday had said, “We want assurances that Rahul Gandhi and not some ‘farzi’ person will be PM when we win the 2024 elections.”

Bajwa’s video saying “we don’t want just anyone farzi as PM like in the past” has gone viral.

“It seems Congress leaders have not learnt lessons from the past acts of indiscretion committed by them against the honour and dignity of Manmohan Singh while he was holding the office of the Prime Minister,” said Jakhar, BJP national executive member.

Referring to the incident of leader of opposition in Punjab Assembly Bajwa terming former PM 'farzi' in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on stage, Jakhar said the Congress had scored yet another self-goal in the name of Bharat Jodo by offending all Punjabis by insulting a man held in high esteem.

“Difficult to envision what benefit they are trying to draw from walking 300km in Punjab just to tarnish the legacy of their own decisions of choosing a prime minister to lead the nation,” Jakhar said. 

Some Congress leaders in their desperation to win favours with their bosses had seemed to forget all sense of propriety, Jakhar added.