Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar slammed Rahul Gandhi for his claim that the "Enforcement Directorate insiders" told him that a raid is being planned against him. Chandrashekhar said that Rahul Gandhi was "creating a new narrative" to distract people from questioning him about his accountability regarding Wayanad, which was hit by a devastating landslide tragedy.
"He might have been told that people are asking questions about his accountability so he has sought to create a new narrative," BJP leader and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters.
"Gandhi has raised an imaginary issue to avoid questions related to Wayanad," he said, adding that local MP is the last person to reach there. "People are asking about his accountability," he claimed.
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha had posted on X earlier today, claiming that the raid being planned against him was a result of his Chakravyuh speech. Gandhi had accused PM Modi, Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, and businessmen Adani and Ambani of trapping Indians in a 'chakravyuh'.
"When Rahul Gandhi speaks in Parliament, I take Saridon because I get a headache. Nobody has any problems with his language, but the issue he is raising today is because he knows what he did and didn't do as the MP of Wayanad, and there will be many questions about that...," said BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Chandrasekhar also stated that the death of the people, mostly poor, in the Wayanad disaster is not just a tragedy but a "crime".
Blaming the successive state governments since 2009 for the tragedy, the BJP leader said that the people of Wayanad had to bear the cost of the government's negligence.
He also slammed the Left government in Kerala for preventing science and technology institutions from sharing opinion and study reports of the tragedy with the media.
"The INDIA bloc, an alliance which includes most opposition parties despite their state-wise differences, is steeped in hypocrisy and has little regard for freedom of expression," he said.
After facing criticism, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan withdrew the controversial note issued by the State Disaster Management Authority, which barred science and technology institutions in the state from sharing their study reports.
Rahul Gandhi was elected from Wayanad in the 2019 and 2024 polls. However, he gave up the Wayanad seat after he won from the Rae Bareli seat as well in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. Thereafter, Congress had announced that his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest in the Wayanad by-poll, which is yet to be announced.
Both the leaders visited Wayanad on August 1, where they met the surviviors and the families of the victims.