Vandalisation of Congress headquarters in Ahmedabad allegedly by BJP and affiliated bodies following Rahul Gandhi’s Parliament speech has the Gujarat Congress now claiming that the Ahmedabad police has been siding the ruling BJP and was not even accepting a police complaint by the Congress, which they said was their right. State Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil said the police in Gujarat was not acting independently as they should but were harassing the Congress instead of arresting the BJP workers involved in the violence.
Gohil said the Gujarat unit of the Congress has also asked Rahul Gandhi to visit Gujarat and witness the BJP’s undemocratic and inhuman act. Gohil claimed he had messages where BJP affiliates were asking associates to gather at the Congress office for “stone pelting”. “Our leaders informed the police and personally went to register complaints in advance but the police not only did not act a mute spectator but was siding the BJP.
Gohil said after Rahul Gandhi’s powerful Parliament speech, the BJP in Gujarat used their “laboratory and official machinery” to attack us.
The Congress has been claiming that the BJP affiliates attacked the party headquarters at Paldi in Ahmedabad first at around 4 am and later indulged in massive organised stone pelting in the evening.
He denied that his party also indulged in violence and stone-throwing. “We had to resort to self-defence because the police did not act”, he claimed adding that it was unfortunate that the police has been politicised. He said this was the first time in Gujarat that a political party has openly attacked and vandalised their opponent’s office “just because they are frustrated after our leader’s powerful parliament speech. Gandhi also posted on X that the attack on the Gujarat Congress office proved that the BJP does not understand the tenets of the great Hindu religion”.
The BJP and affiliated bodies were protesting alleged “anti-Hindu” remarks by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Seven people, including three police personnel, were injured in stone pelting.
Before dawn on Tuesday, Bajrang Dal members barged into the compound of Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan and defaced posters of Congress leader and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for what they called “anti-Hindu” remarks made by him in the Parliament on Monday.
The BJP and Ahmedabad police has said that the BJP workers were staging a peaceful protest outside the Congress office and the Congress started the violence.
The Congress named three policemen including ACP A B Valand of M Division of city police and demanded their immediate suspension.
The Ahmedabad police has clarified that they detained both the BJP and Congress workers, over 25 of them after the stone pelting. The Congress claims that no BJP worker was detained and arrested though they are clearly seen indulging in violence donning saffron scarves on cameras.
Gujarat BJP general secretary Rajni Patel said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had insulted “the entire Hindu community” by claiming that they are constantly involved in violence. “Hindus are tolerant and have always believed in non-violence. The entire country is angry over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Hindus, and he must tender an apology for it,” Patel said.
Gujarat Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil said BJP proved Rahul Gandhi right by indulging in violence. Hinduism is not about violence, it is BJP’s Hindutva that believes and indulges in violence, Gohil, the State Congress president and a Rajyasabha MP said addressing a press conference today on Thursday in Ahmedabad.
“BJP sent a mob to vandalize the Congress office, showing their party’s hooliganism.On hearing the news, Congress workers and leaders, like brave lions, reached the Congress office and stood as a wall against the BJP’s goons. Congratulations to them. Despite prior notice to the police, their biased and negligent actions are condemnable. Police officers are supposed to serve the public, not any political party,” Shaktisinh Gohil said.
The Bajrang Dal took responsibility for its pre-dawn attack, circulating photos and videos of their members entering the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) office compound. Footage shared by the VHP and Bajrang Dal showed members vandalizing posters of Rahul Gandhi.
Gujarat Congress spokesman Hemang Raval said. “This is an act of cowardice”, he said. Shaktisinh Gohil said they will fight for their right for safety and against BJP’s hooliganism with weapons of truth and non-violence. “If the Gujarat police does not act in a fair manner, we will fight this hooliganism upto the Supreme Court level”, he added.
Congress leaders claimed that Rahul Gandhi may visit Gujarat soon to take stock of the situation and meet the Gujarat Congress workers who withstood the violence of the BJP goons.
The Congress said Ahmedabad police has accepted their police complaint on Thursday evening, over 48 hours after the violence and a press conference by their State President Shaktisinh Gohil where he named the policemen who he alleged were siding the BJP hooligans.
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