The BJP on Wednesday demanded action by the Election Commission against Rahul Gandhi for his ‘panauti’ and ‘pickpocket’ jibes at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and recalled Indira Gandhi’s “insult” of the Indian hockey team in the 1982 Asian Games final while praising its leader’s encouragement to cricket players after their World Cup final loss.
A party delegation, which included its general secretary Radha Mohan Das Agarwal and another functionary Om Pathak, also sought the poll watchdog’s action against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing him of falsely claiming that Modi’s caste was included in Gujarat’s OBC list when he was the state Chief minister.
After visiting the EC, Agarwal launched a stinging attack on Gandhi and described him as a “senseless, uneducated and valueless” person of “ghatia” (inferior) mindset for making insulting remarks against a “globally respected” leader out of “jealousy”.
Gandhi, in a poll speech in Rajasthan, had used the ‘panauti’ barb against Modi as he had attended the World Cup cricket final which India lost to Australia after 10 consecutive wins in the tournament.