The BJP on Wednesday seized on Rahul Gandhi’s description of Congress turncoat Ravneet Singh Bittu, now a minister in the NDA government, as a “traitor friend” to launch a sharp attack on the Opposition party and the Gandhi family, accusing them of insulting the Sikh community.
The exchange took place on the staircase of Parliament’s main entrance ahead of the day’s proceedings as Rahul and other Congress MPs were protesting the suspension of Opposition members.
As Bittu was climbing the steps to enter the building, Rahul referred to him as a “traitor friend”, triggering a heated verbal exchange that later escalated into a political controversy.
Bittu, a Rajya Sabha member and minister of state for railways and food processing industries, joined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. A two-term Congress MP from Punjab, he is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, a Congress leader who was assassinated by militants.
A video of the incident shows Bittu approaching the Makar Dwar as Congress MPs staged a protest. “Here is a traitor walking right by. Look at the face,” Rahul was heard saying before offering to shake hands, adding: “Hello, brother. My traitor friend. Don’t worry, you will come back.”
Bittu refused the handshake, retorting that Rahul was an “enemy of the nation”. Within hours, the BJP amplified the remarks, accusing Rahul of using language that demeaned Sikhs and hurt the community’s sentiments.
The BJP fielded several Sikh leaders, led by Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri, to condemn Rahul. The Delhi BJP staged protests demanding an apology from the Congress leader.
“The remark has deeply hurt the sentiments of the proud Sikh community. A ‘traitor’ is someone who betrays the nation, and such words cannot be taken lightly,” Puri said at a media conference.
In a post on X, he said the comment crossed “all boundaries of civility, decency and dignity,” and alleged that the Gandhi family had a history of targeting Sikhs, referring to Operation Blue Star in 1984.
