The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his “slurs” against Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The BJP said Gandhi “sank to a new low” after he “demeaned” her.
The Karnataka BJP also slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and questioned him over Rahul Gandhi insulting a “fellow Kannadiga”.
“Frustrated by constant rejections by Indians, Rahul Gandhi has sunk to a new low of demeaning India’s Pride Aishwarya Rai. A fourth-generation dynast, with zero achievements, now resorts to slurs against Aishwarya Rai, who has brought more glory to India and than Rahul Gandhi’s entire family,” the Karnataka BJP said in a tweet.
“Mr Siddaramaiah, as your boss continues to insult a fellow Kannadiga, will you uphold your professed Kannada pride and speak out against such disrespect, or will you remain silent to safeguard your CM Chair?” the tweet further read.
The BJP also shared clips of Rahul Gandhi speaking against Aishwarya Rai’s “presence” at the Ram Mandir ceremony on January 22.
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Notably, Aishwarya Rai was not present at the consecration of Ram Lalla’s idol. However, her husband Abhishek Bachchan and father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan were present.
What did Rahul Gandhi say?
In a recent public address during the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the BJP over the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ event held at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22. The Congress leader said that the OBCs and Dalits, constituting 73 per cent of the country’s population, were conspicuously absent from the grand ceremony which was attended by billionaires and Bollywood celebrities.
“Did you see the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony at the Ram Temple? Was there a single OBC face? There was Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, and Narendra Modi,” Rahul Gandhi had said.
The BJP responded with a collage of various Rahul Gandhi speeches where the 53-year-old can be heard mentioning the Bollywood actor.
“Television channels only show Aishwarya Rai dancing. They don’t show anything about the poor people,” Rahul Gandhi said in one of the speeches.
The grand opening ceremony of the Ram Temple was presided over by PM Modi and attended by a host of celebrities. “I did not see a farmer there. Not one labourer was seen and not one small shopkeeper was seen. But all the billionaires were seen and there they were giving long speeches to the media,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, chose to skip the Ayodhya event, accusing the BJP of exploiting it for political gain.