Rahul Gandhi ‘No.1 terrorist’, not an Indian, says Union minister Ravneet Bittu; Congress hits back

Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Sunday stoked a controversy after he called Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, as number 1 terrorist and biggest enemy of the country.

Bittu made the remark while reacting to Rahul Gandhi's recent remarks on various issues, including related to Sikh Community.

“Rahul Gandhi is not an Indian, he has spent most of his time outside. He does not love his country much because he goes abroad and says everything in a wrong way,” ANI quoted Bittu as saying.

Without naming Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun who endorsed Gandhi's remarks on Sikh community, Bittu added, “The people who are most wanted, separatists, experts in making bombs, guns and shells, have appreciated what Rahul Gandhi has said. The enemies of the country who try to blow up planes, trains, roads, they are in support of Rahul Gandhi.”

Stating that Rahul’s statement on ‘existential threat to Sikhs in India’ is not only bold and pioneering, Pannun said that it is also firmly grounded in the factual history of what Sikhs have been facing under successive regimes in India since 1947.

Further, the Union Minister said that if there should be an award to catch the number one terrorist and the biggest enemy of the country, it should be on Rahul Gandhi.

Congress hits back

Senior Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that they can only pity such people. "His political career in Congress was also a mess...He used to praise Rahul Gandhi. After resigning from Congress and joining BJP, he is showing his loyalty to the BJP party."

Slamming the minister, Tariq Anwar said that Bittu just joined BJP from the Congress party and he wants to prove that he follows the ideology of BJP and is anti-Rahul Gandhi. "That's why he is making these kinds of absurd statements," said Anwar.

What Rahul Gandhi said during US visit

During his four-day visit to the US, while addressing a gathering of Indian Americans, Gandhi asked one of the Sikh attendees to give his name and said, “The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That's what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions.”