Adhir Ranjan's Twitter Handle Features Controversial Rajiv Gandhi Quote, Cong Leader Alleges 'Malicious Campaign'

This statement was widely criticised as it was seen as Rajiv Gandhi’s approval of the events that transpired after Indira’s death.

West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury distanced himself from the tweet alleging "malicious campaign."

Source : Getty Images | Twitter/@Adhirrcinc

New Delhi: As several prominent political leaders remembered former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on the occasion of his death anniversary, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's Twitter account featured a controversial quote by the late Congress leader. News agency ANI posted a screenshot of the now-deleted tweet that featured a creative with the quote: ‘When a big tree falls, the ground shakes’. "The tweet against my name has nothing to do with my own observation," the Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha clarified in another tweet on Saturday.

‘When a big tree falls, the ground shakes,’ Rajiv Gandhi made this controversial remark in 1984 following the anti-Sikh riots in the aftermath of the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi.

This statement was widely criticised as it was seen as Rajiv Gandhi’s approval of the events that transpired after Indira’s death. More than 3,000 Sikhs were killed across Delhi and Punjab in one of the bloodiest pogroms in the country after Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards assassinated her in an act of rage over the 1984 Blue Star Operation.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha was among those who criticised Adhir Ranjan's tweet writing: "Adhir Ranjan Ji, This wasn’t a motivational quote by him. This was the blatant justification for congress sponsored Anti Sikh Riots of 1984."

Adhir Ranjan Ji,

This wasn’t a motivational quote by him.
This was the blatant justification for congress sponsored Anti Sikh Riots of 1984.

It is Extremely Shameful that the Congress Party still feels proud of the ruthless massacre of Sikhs under its watch in 1984. pic.twitter.com/Wsqfgfu67E

— BJYM (@BJYM) May 21, 2022

"It is Extremely Shameful that the Congress Party still feels proud of the ruthless massacre of Sikhs under its watch in 1984," the youth wing added. 

Notably, a similar gaffe was seen in 2016 when the controversial quote was tweeted out from the handle of the West Bengal Congress unit and deleted hours later.

According to a 2016 report by the Indian Express, Congress Party sources said that state unit president Adhir Ranjan Choudhury had hauled up the party’s social media team over the mistake.

a malicious campaign is propagated by those forces inimical to me.

— Adhir Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) May 21, 2022

Meanwhile, in response to the latest gaffe, Adhir Rajan has alleged that "a malicious campaign is propagated by those forces inimical" to him.

"With all my conviction, with humilities at my command, I'm firmly stating that the tweet being quoted against my name is nothing but a malicious campaign being propagated by some unscrupulous elements, by some heinous forces who are inimical to me and my party," the West Bengal Congress chief said, as quoted by ANI.

He further stressed that he is going to take legal action against offenders, "So, I am vociferously refuting the content of the text quoted against my name. Today itself I am going to legal action against those offenders, if not digital criminals."