Ravneet Singh Bittu defends remarks on Rahul Gandhi amid Congress protests

Union minister of state Ravneet Singh Bittu on Monday defended his remarks on Rahul Gandhi, stating that if the Congress must protest, the party should do so against their Rae Bareli MP.

“If the Congress party has to protest, it should protest against Rahul Gandhi,” Bittu said addressing newspersons at Jaipur airport where he came to participate in a sports event.

When asked about his statement against Gandhi, Bittu said, “It is not about Congress or BJP. It is about Punjab and Sikhs.”

Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the USA recently had said, “The fight (in India) is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear a turban...whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear a kada or go to the Gurudwara. That’s what the fight is about, and it’s not just for Sikhs, but for all religions.”

Reacting to Gandhi’s statement, Bittu said, “Rahul Gandhi himself goes to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib so many times. Who stops him? Therefore, this is not a matter of the party, it is above the party.”

The Union minister further said, “Name any one person who has stopped us from wearing a bracelet. Who has stopped us from wearing a turban? Who has stopped us from going to the Gurudwara? Therefore, if Congress has to protest, it should protest against Rahul Gandhi.”

Some Congress workers had reached the event venue in Jaipur on Monday to protest against Bittu, but the police detained them and took them to an undisclosed location.

Commenting on the entire episode, Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra said on X, “I strongly condemn the arrest of peacefully protesting workers in Jaipur by the shameless and foul-mouthed Union minister Ravneet Bittu. Peaceful protest is a democratic right, but the frightened BJP government wants to crush every protest. It is shameful that the BJP government has converted the entire city into a cantonment and adopted a dictatorial attitude in order to protect the foul-mouthed minister.”