Congress attacks BJP-RSS, alleges ‘conspiracy’ to silence Rahul Gandhi

The Congress on Monday, 29 September, intensified its attack on the BJP and the RSS after a chilling death threat was issued against leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi by Printu Mahadev, a former ABVP state president and BJP spokesperson, during a televised debate.

Congress leaders described the remarks as “cold, calculated and heinous”, alleging that those “losing the ideological battle” against Rahul Gandhi were now resorting to threats of violence in a bid to silence him.

Pawan Khera, head of the Congress media and publicity department, said, “A BJP spokesperson said on TV that Rahul Gandhi will be shot in the chest, and no action has been taken so far.”

He further accused the ruling party of politicising Rahul Gandhi’s security, pointing to an earlier instance when the CRPF had leaked a letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge about Gandhi’s security cover.

“This stinks of a conspiracy,” Khera said in a video statement, asking who was orchestrating such threats. “First you tried to silence him with abuses, now you are threatening him with bullets. The truth is, you cannot digest the fact that people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari are resonating with his message.”

Khera alleged that the BJP’s “theft” of democracy, including electoral malpractice, had been exposed, and now the party was panicking. “They are losing the battle of ideas. Whenever the RSS fails, their foot soldiers turn to violence. A Godse killed Gandhi then, and now their leaders are threatening Rahul Gandhi with the same fate,” he added.

Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal also wrote a strongly worded letter to Union Home minister Amit Shah on Sunday, demanding immediate action against Mahadev.
Calling the statement not a slip of tongue but “a deliberate and chilling threat,” Venugopal warned that failure to act would be judged as complicity.

“This is not just about an attack on Rahul Gandhi as an individual, but an assault on the democratic spirit he represents,” Venugopal wrote. He accused the BJP of cultivating a “toxic climate of hate” that endangers the LoP and undermines India’s Constitution and rule of law.

Venugopal said it was Shah’s responsibility to clarify whether the BJP endorsed such politics of intimidation and violence. “Any failure to act swiftly and decisively will be seen as a licence for the normalisation of violence in politics,” he cautioned.

The Congress has alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s rising popularity and his sharp attacks on the BJP — including allegations of “vote theft” — have unsettled the ruling party. The threat, they said, was part of a larger conspiracy to silence his voice on behalf of India’s poor and marginalised.

“A conspiracy is afoot to silence Rahul Gandhi because he is speaking for millions. But we will not let violence overpower democracy,” Khera asserted.

Congress has demanded immediate legal action through the state police, stressing that justice must be “swift, visible, and severe.”

With PTI inputs