New Delhi [India], July 29 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and National spokesperson Sambit Patra on Wednesday rejected Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s claim that shots were fired at students during the July 20 protest, asserting that “no shots were fired” and “no one gave any such order”.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had earlier alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was either “culpable or incompetent” over the alleged police action during the July 20 student protests, asserting that the Home Minister must explain his role in Parliament.
Addressing the press conference over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks made both in the House and outside it, Patra said that the Congress leader had made the allegations without any evidence or facts.
“Rahul Gandhi had no evidence or facts; he lied. He claimed that shots were fired at students. I refute that. I want to clarify that no shots were fired,” Patra said.
He further rejected Rahul Gandhi’s allegation that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had given an order for firing.
“He alleged that Amit Shah gave the order; since no shots were fired, this claim is false. Whenever shots are fired, the decision is taken by a magistrate. No shots were fired, and no one gave any such order,” the BJP leader said.
Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Patra also said that the Opposition leader had repeated what he described as a pattern of making claims without knowing the facts.
“But the same thing happened that always happens with Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi had no evidence or facts; he lied,” he said.
He also referred to Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s presence during Rahul Gandhi’s speech and said, “Even when he didn’t know the facts, Priyanka Gandhi ji was whispering something in his ear.”
“The Home Minister does not go around secretly the way you do; he was right there in the House. Jitendra Singh was present while Rahul-ji was speaking,” Patra added.
The BJP spokesperson also addressed Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about three categories of people, which he said were based on what a student had told the Congress leader.
“He spoke about three categories of people, citing what a student had told him. He was referring to those at Jantar Mantar, or perhaps people across the country. The first category is students. The second is ‘idiots’, and the third is ‘Andh-bhakts’ (blind devotees),” Patra said.
“I want to state that no student is either an ‘idiot’ or an ‘Andh-bhakt’,” he added.
Patra also said that the Union government had initiated the process to make the 2024 law more stringent following a student protest. He said 45 MPs participated in the discussion, while Union Minister Jitendra Singh gave a reply, and expressed confidence that the law would help curb paper leaks.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took several digs at Rahul Gandhi during his reply to the debate on the anti-paper leak bill in Lok Sabha and asked if the Congress leader “is even aware of basic parliamentary norms” and alleged that he had used unparliamentary language.
Earlier, speaking to reporters after the Lok Sabha was adjourned, Rahul Gandhi said there were only two possible explanations for the alleged action on student protesters at Jantar Mantar on July 20.
“There can be two possible scenarios. One is that the Home Minister issued the order. The second is that the Home Minister was unaware that firing would take place. In the first case, he is culpable; in the second, he is incompetent–it has to be one of the two; there is no third possibility,” Gandhi said. (ANI)
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