The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded on Friday to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s criticism regarding the Election Commission of India (ECI) temporarily freezing the Trinamool Congress’s poll symbol and name. Gandhi had earlier condemned the government’s actions, asserting that they undermined democratic processes.
Gandhi took to X, accusing the BJP and the poll panel of splitting up the TMC. Countering the argument, BJP national spokesperson Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi reminded Gandhi of the Congress-TMC split.
“People have a perception about Rahul Gandhi that he knows nothing about the country…Today, he has posted a remarkable tweet which suggests that he knows nothing about his own party either. On Thursday, the ECI restrained TMC factions from using the party name and symbol during upcoming by-polls in Bengal, following which Congress MP Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the government. He has accused the BJP of finishing TMC after Shiv Sena and NCP. “First Shiv Sena, then NCP, and now Trinamool Congress. Every time, the same pattern—BJP and the Election Commission join forces to split a party. Then its election symbol is snatched away. When an entire party can be stolen, it’s hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen too,” a part of Gandhi’s X post read.
Mamata Banerjee was earlier a part of Congress and broke away from the party to start her own on January 1, 1998 – the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).
I want to tell him that these parties (TMC, NCP) were formed by breaking away from Congress themselves…,” Trivedi said. “Years of relentless struggle against injustice convinced her that Bengal needed an independent platform, one free from the limitations of the Congress and strong enough to challenge the CPI(M)’s long-standing rule,” a part of the AITC’s ‘About Us’ statement on its website reads. Earlier reporting noted: ‘Vote theft, govt theft, now party theft’: Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal slam EC over TMC symbol freeze Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP )-led government at Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) over its interim order freezing the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)’s name and “Flowers and Grass” election symbol. Earlier reporting noted: Gandhi accused the BJP and the poll panel of working together to weaken opposition parties, calling “party theft” the latest sign of India’s democratic decline.
Earlier reporting noted: The Congress leader’s remarks came a day after the ECI barred rival factions of the Trinamool Congress from using the party’s name and traditional election symbol until the leadership dispute is resolved.
