In Rahul's 'I am Congress' tweet, BJP sees "confession" of his 'Muslim party' remark

He has clearly accepted it through his tweet that the Congress is a party for Muslims, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi during the Seva Dal meeting at AICC Headquarters in New Delhi. PTI Photo

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday described Congress president Rahul Gandhi's tweet that he stands with the last person in line as a "confession" of his reported remarks that his party is for Muslims. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters that Gandhi has not denied the comments, seized by the saffron party to accuse him of Muslim appeasement. "We have read Gandhi's tweet a hundred times in two hours to find out if he denies making 'Muslim party' remark but we could not see a negation of what he had said," Patra said. He said Gandhi's tweet is a "clear confession" that the Congress is a party for Muslims. "It is a confession. He has clearly accepted it through his tweet." Patra was reacting after Gandhi tweeted that he stands with the persecuted and the last person in the line", breaking his silence on the controversy following a remark on the Congress being a "party for Muslims" attributed to him.

I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalised and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me.

I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear. I love all living beings. I am the Congress. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 17, 2018

The BJP leader claimed that the Congress chose to send out a message as part of its "deliberate conspiracy" and leaked the information about Gandhi's meeting with Muslim intellectuals. "The Congress leaked it to the media that Gandhi will hold a meeting with some Muslim intellectuals. The next day, an Urdu daily reported that Rahul Gandhi told the intellectuals that Congress is a party for Muslims. It's a deliberate conspiracy of the Congress to promote appeasement politics," he said. Patra said Gandhi's reported remarks were a breach of trust of the "last person in the last queue with whom Rahul Gandhi claims to be standing with". "You say you are with the last person in the queue, which is the ideology of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, but the Congress for so many years was not with this last person in the queue. So the last man is now also not with you," Patra said. "You cheated the last man for 70 years and now when you say that the Congress is a party of Muslims, it is also a breach of trust of the last person in the queue or the most marginalised," he added. Reacting to Gandhi's tweet, Patra said: "There is a sense of competition between Rahul Gandhi and Asaduddin Owaisi as to who would usurp the ideology of (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah to a complete extent." "Owaisi has asked the percentage of the Muslims in the army and paramilitary forces. They are trying to divide the army and trying to bring religion into the army," Patra said. "Congress leader Veerappa Moily seems to second Owaisi by saying that Muslims are indeed underrepresented in the army. BJP rejects the politics of division and believes in 'sabka sath, sabka vikas'," he said. (With additional inputs from agencies)