Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], November 19 : After eminent personalities wrote an open letter condemning Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi for his allegations against the Election Commission of India, Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on him, saying that he neither cares about India nor Indians.
Sharpening his attacks, the BJP leader claimed that politics is Rahul Gandhi's "part-time vocation" and a "way to fund his abroad travels".
"I had said many years ago that Rahul Gandhi neither cares about India nor about Indians. There is a particular reason why he doesn't spend more than 3-4 months a year in India. His allegiances, passion, loyalties, desires, all lies outside India. For him, doing politics in India is a part-time vocation is a way to fund his travels abroad. He is nothing in his mind that is remotely about the well-being and integrity of India and Indians. He only cares for himself and his family, and for this reason, Congress has become Rahul Bachao Samaj," Rajeev Chandrasekhar told ANI.
Earlier in the day, over 272 eminent citizens, including 16 Judges, 123 retired bureaucrats, 14 Ambassadors, 133 retired armed forces officers, wrote an open letter condemning the repeated "assault on national constitutional authorities" by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
The letter states that instead of offering "genuine policy alternatives", the Congress leader has resorted to "unsubstantiated accusations".
Condemning earlier repeated alleged assaults on institutions such as questioning the valour of the armed forces, the fairness of the judiciary, the letter said that it is the Election Commission this time which is facing "systematic and conspiratorial attacks on its integrity and reputation."
"The Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha, has repeatedly attacked the Election Commission, declaring that he has open and shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in vote theft and claimed that he has 100 per cent proof. Using unbelievably uncouth rhetoric, that what he has found is an atom bomb, and when it explodes, the EC would have no place to hide," the open letter stated.
Yet, despite such scathing accusations, there has been no formal complaint filed by him, along with the prescribed sworn affidavit, to escape his accountability for levelling unsubstantiated allegations and threatening public servants in performance of their duty, the letter added.
Criticising other groups, including "several senior figures of Congress and other political parties, leftist NGOs, ideologically opinionated scholars, and a few attention seekers in other walks of life," the letter mentioned that the accusations are an "are attempt to drape political frustration in the garb of institutional crisis".
"This pattern of behaviour reflects what might be called 'impotent rage' --deep anger born of repeated electoral failure and frustration, without a concrete plan to reconnect with the people," the letter stated.
The letter further criticised several Congress leaders and other political parties for being selective in their criticism of the ECI, staying silent when electoral outcomes are favourable to them but making the ECI the villain when they are unfavourable.
The letter called on members of civil society and citizens to stand firmly with the Election Commission and urged political actors to stop undermining the "vital institution" with baseless allegations and theatrical denunciations.
Multiple eminent personalities, including SP Vaid, former Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police; Former diplomat Anil Trigunayat; retired justice SN Dhingra; former Supreme Court judge Adarsh Kumar Goel; former RAW chief Sanjeev Tripathi; former NIA director Yogesh Chander Modi; former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Deepak Singhal, among others, have signed the letter.