Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his party’s opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, describing him as the “biggest red flag” for the Congress and challenging him to respond to 10 questions on the issue.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Goyal accused Gandhi of contributing to the Congress’s repeated electoral defeats and questioned the party’s allegations of vote theft against the Election Commission.
The minister also alleged that Gandhi and his colleagues misbehaved with a woman journalist, who he claimed was three months pregnant, while she was covering the Opposition’s protest. He condemned the alleged incident, asserting that journalists should be able to carry out their duties without intimidation.
Questioning the Congress’s stand on electoral roll revision, Goyal cited statements attributed to Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan regarding the SIR exercise. He also referred to Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s reported remarks praising the Election Commission’s handling of the West Bengal elections.
Goyal accused the Congress of adopting contradictory positions on the electoral process and alleged that its current criticism of the poll panel was politically motivated. He also questioned the party’s association with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the issue.
The remarks came a day after Rahul Gandhi led INDIA bloc leaders and supporters in a march from Barakhamba Road towards the Supreme Court in Delhi to protest against the electoral roll revision exercise.
