NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday alleged a rift within the Congress leadership, claiming that Rahul Gandhi‘s camp was insecure about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra‘s growing influence and was deliberately sidelining her within the party.BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused the Congress leadership of denying Priyanka Gandhi an opportunity to address the INDIA bloc rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. He also alleged that she was sidelined during the party’s mock Parliament event held a day earlier.In a video statement, Bhandari claimed that the Congress was divided into two power centres, with Rahul Gandhi’s camp allegedly attempting to limit his sister’s political prominence.“Priyanka Vadra, who has served as the General Secretary of the Congress Party and is Rahul Gandhi’s sister, was not allowed to speak today at the Ramlila Ground. Did Rahul Gandhi prevent her from speaking today? And not just today, even yesterday during the Mock Parliament, when Rahul Gandhi’s relaunch exercise was taking place, Priyanka Vadra’s chair was placed in the second row, and she was not allowed to speak there either,” Bhandari said.Claiming that Rahul Gandhi’s political team was apprehensive of Priyanka Gandhi’s influence within the party, the BJP spokesperson accused the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha of prioritising internal political manoeuvring over public issues.“The Rahul camp is insecure about the Priyanka camp, and the Priyanka camp is being suppressed. Rahul Gandhi, who is undergoing his hundredth relaunch, is not talking about the people of the country or about the Congress Party today; instead, he is merely trying to sideline Priyanka Gandhi Vadra,” the BJP national spokesperson said.Taking another swipe at the Congress leadership, Bhandari said: “Between Rahul versus Priyanka, the Congress is divided into two factions, and the public is watching this fight while eating popcorn.”
INDIA bloc holds rally against SIR, alleged electoral irregularities
The BJP’s remarks came as Opposition leaders and supporters gathered at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi for the INDIA bloc’s ‘Chalo Dilli’ rally against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged irregularities in the exercise.The march began at the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction and proceeded towards Ramlila Maidan. The gathering followed a public mock impeachment programme against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar held in the national capital on October 31.
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Several Opposition leaders attended the rally, including Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, CPI leader D Raja, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.The BJP’s allegations centred on Priyanka Gandhi’s absence from the list of speakers at the rally and her seating arrangement at the mock Parliament event. Bhandari did not provide independent evidence to establish that Rahul Gandhi had prevented his sister from addressing either gathering.