Last Updated:
Taking a swipe at Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior BJP leader Amit Malviya said she is a “bigger disaster than Rahul Gandhi”
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during the ongoing winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi on December 16. (Image: PTI)
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s show of support for war-ravaged Palestine in the form of a bag she carried to Parliament on Monday, attracted a sharp reaction from the BJP.
Calling the Congress “the new Muslim League”, senior BJP leader Amit Malviya called Priyanka a “bigger disaster than Rahul Gandhi”. Taking a swipe, he said a two-minute silence must be observed for the Congress at the end of the winter session.
“At the end of this Parliament session, observe a two minute silence for everyone in the Congress, who believed Priyanka Vadra was the long-awaited solution, they should have embraced earlier. She is a bigger disaster than Rahul Gandhi, who thinks sporting a bag in support of Palestine in the Parliament, is about fighting patriarchy. That is right. Crass communal virtue signaling to Muslims is now cloaked as stance against patriarchy!” he said in a post on X.
At the end of this Parliament session, observe a two minute silence for everyone in the Congress, who believed Priyanka Vadra was the long-awaited solution, they should have embraced earlier. She is a bigger disaster than Rahul Gandhi, who thinks sporting a bag in support of… pic.twitter.com/UHofKVKdei— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 16, 2024
He added: “Make no mistake, Congress is the New Muslim League.”
Priyanka, who also raised the issue of reported attacks against minorities in Bangladesh, carried a bag that had “Palestine” emblazoned on it. She has been raising her voice against Israel’s actions in Gaza and expressing solidarity with Palestinians.
She was spotted with the handbag, which also had other Palestinian emblems including a watermelon – seen as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity.
Last week, Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer, charge d’affaires of the Palestine embassy in New Delhi, had called on the new Congress MP to congratulate her on her recent election victory from Kerala’s Wayanad.
In June, she had slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over what she had said were the his government’s “genocidal actions” in Gaza, as she accused him and his government of “barbarism”.
The Congress general secretary’s remarks had come after Netanyahu defended Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza in a speech to the US Congress. She had said it was no longer enough to speak up for the civilians, mothers, fathers, doctors, nurses, aid workers, journalists, teachers, writers, poets, senior citizens and the thousands of innocent children who were being wiped out day after day by the “horrific genocide” taking place in Gaza.
“It is the moral responsibility of every right-thinking individual, including all those Israeli citizens who do not believe in hatred and violence, and every government in the world to condemn the Israeli government’s genocidal actions and force them to stop,” she had said in a post on X.
Priyanka had added that their actions are unacceptable in a world that professes civility and morality.
‘INDIA SHOULD SUPPORT THOSE IN PAIN IN BANGLADESH’
In Lok Sabha on Monday, Priyanka said the government should raise the issue of atrocities on minorities in Bangladesh with the neighbouring country. In her ‘zero hour’ reference, she sought the Centre’s support for those in pain because of the attacks.
“The government should raise the issue of atrocities on minorities, both Hindus and Christians, in Bangladesh. Should discuss this with the Bangladesh government and support those who are in pain,” she said.
(With PTI inputs)
