March 26
The Gujarat minister Ganpatsinh Vasava on Monday made a controversial statement about Congress president Rahul Gandhi and said that he (Rahul Gandhi) should be poisoned to check whether he survived or not till the elections. When Vasava said this, the Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani also was present on the dais.
The tribal development minister in Gujarat government, Vasava was speaking at the Karyakarta Sammelan at Bardoli town of South Gujarat. The workers’ gathering was held to motivate the party cadres in southern part of the state before the Lok Sabha polls, where he made this statement.
Speaking at the gathering, Vasava said, “I recently heard a senior Congress leader on social media saying Rahul Gandhi was the incarnation of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva had consumed the poison to save the world, so you should also give 500 gram poison to your leader to check whether he is Shivji or not. If he survives till the elections, we would also believe that he is the incarnation of Lord Shiva.”
Earlier too, after Pulwama attack, Vasava had made a sensational statement and has said that there should be ‘Shok Sabha’- condolence meet in Pakistan before ‘Lok Sabha’ (general polls) in India. He had also stated that if it was required to delay the polls, it should be, but India should give apt reply to Pakistan of Pulwama attack.
Reacting to Vasava’s statement against Rahul Gandhi, Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, “BJP is in no position to give accounts of their performance to people and therefore they are tossing this kinds of issue to deviate people’s attention on non-issues. They have lost the mental equilibrium and therefore they are using this typo of demeaning words.”
A day before, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani also had made a controversial statement in a poll rally held at Mehsana town in North Gujarat. He had said that Congress was a pro-Pakistan party and if at all Congress led to Lok Sabha polls on May 23, Diwali would be celebrated in Pakistan.