New Delhi, 24 September (H.S.):

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday hit back at Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi following his press conference, questioning his understanding of Indian politics.

BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said Rahul Gandhi’s understanding of politics was “zero” and argued that several historical examples did not support Gandhi’s description of anti-incumbency as an established feature of Indian politics.

Trivedi said that if anti-incumbency was as strong as Gandhi claimed, Gandhi himself could not have won his seat without the support of an alliance partner. He alleged that the Congress had won in Rae Bareli and Amethi over the past 25 years with the support of the Samajwadi Party, and claimed that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi lacked the ability to win their “family seats” without such support.

He also referred to Wayanad, where Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have contested elections, and attributed their electoral victories there to support from the Indian Union Muslim League. Trivedi also referred to the demographic composition of the constituency while making his argument.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters on Thursday, Trivedi said several historical examples contradicted Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that anti-incumbency was an established truth of Indian politics. Citing Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, he said the Congress had not returned to power in these states for extended periods, while governments led by different political parties had held office at various times.

The BJP MP also mocked Gandhi’s statement that he had been observing the political environment for nearly 50 years. In a series of sarcastic remarks, Trivedi referred to Gandhi as a political “expert” and mocked his presentation of a PowerPoint presentation while discussing electoral issues.

He further made a sarcastic reference to Gandhi’s age, saying that an ability to understand politics from the age of five or six could only be possessed by a “young man with a full-grown beard.”

Trivedi also rejected Gandhi’s allegations concerning the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and electoral rolls. He said the questions raised by Gandhi regarding the electoral process and revision of voter lists were not supported by facts.

Trivedi argued that raising questions solely on the basis of newspaper reports was not a logical approach and maintained that allegations concerning the electoral process should be examined against verified facts and official records.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar