BJP leaders question Sonia Gandhi’s criticism of the Modi government and her remarks on the Emergency

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Saturday hit back at Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi over her criticism of the PM Modi government, asking her to “remove Italian lenses” and acknowledge India’s progress over the past 12 years. The party also criticised her remarks on the Emergency and questioned the contents of her upcoming memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’.“If you take off your Italian lenses, you will see India clearly: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas, and India rising as a global power at a 7.8 per cent (GDP) growth rate,” news agency PTI quoted BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh as saying.Chugh accused the Congress of using caste, religion and vote-bank politics to divide the country and asked Gandhi to address alleged scams during her party’s rule, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the Bhopal gas tragedy in her memoir.He also questioned her silence on the deaths of Indian soldiers and raised the Batla House encounter, asking why she had allegedly cried after a terrorist was killed.“Gandhi is unable to digest the rise of Sanatan under the BJP-NDA rule,” Chugh said.Sonia, in an interview with the news outlet The Hindu ahead of her book’s launch, alleged that the last 12 years had caused “great damage” to India’s democratic fabric and institutions. She said restoring the country’s systems would take time even after the Modi government leaves office, adding that people were beginning to recognise the damage.The BJP also targeted the Congress leader over her remarks on the Emergency, imposed on June 25, 1975. In the interview, she said the suspension of democratic rights and habeas corpus during the period had been carried out constitutionally. She also said that, in retrospect, she could see

Indira Gandhi struggling with deteriorating circumstances, including violent protests and organised unrest.BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused Sonia Gandhi of “shedding tear for Batla House.”“Sonia Gandhi sheds tear for Babri. Sonia Gandhi sheds tear for Batla House. Sonia Gandhi proves that Congress is Pro Babar, Anti Bhagwan Ram. Vote bank politics of Sonia Gandhi will continue to lose!” he said in a post on X.