A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker from Kota, Rajasthan, publicly issued a death threat to senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying he will shoot the Leader of Opposition in his residence and the other 25 MPs for “abusing” the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The statement was made in a video originally posted on the Instagram account Raj Amera Gausevak and has since gone viral on various social media platforms. However, the Instagram page is no longer available.
Raj Amera Singh, a self-proclaimed cow vigilante (gau rakshak) and a member of right-wing group Karni Sena, was allegedly triggered by Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju’s statements regarding the alleged abuse of Birla by the Congress MPs, where he had also called Gandhi a “serious national threat.”
Singh said that if such an incident were to happen again, the party workers would vandalise the houses of those MPs.
“The way 25 MPs behaved toward Om Birla, if such an incident occurs again, we will break into their houses and create a ruckus,” Raj said. “If those MPs are arrested within 24 hours, it is fine. Otherwise, we will shoot them all one by one,” he said.
Issuing a direct warning to Rahul Gandhi, he told the leader to “listen carefully” to his threat.
“Rahul Gandhi kaan kholkar sunle, agar dubara aisi ghatna hui toh tere ghar mai ghuskar, goli maardenge. (Rahul Gandhi, listen carefully. If such an incident happens again, then I will shoot you),” he said.
Since the video was uploaded, several Congress leaders have condemned the open threat, calling for Raj’s arrest. The youth wing of Congress took to X, questioning the tactics of the leading party.
“With a BJP scarf around his neck, this lunatic is threatening to shoot and kill the Leader of the Opposition in the country, Shri Rahul Gandhi ji, along with 25 MPs. Yet till now, neither has he been arrested nor has any FIR (First Information Report) been registered, because he claims to be a worker of Om Birla and Narendra Modi. Is this the way BJP will now fight political battles…?”
After the video surfaced on social media, Singh was detained by Kota police.
Superintendent of Police (SP), Kota, Tejaswani Gautam, told PTI that the accused has been detained at Borkheda police station and is being questioned regarding the video.
In the video, a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Birla shaking hands with each other is seen hanging on the wall behind Singh.
Both the BJP and the Karni Sena denied having any association with Singh.
“I want to clarify that the person seen in the viral video has no connection with the BJP. The BJP is a disciplined party committed to nation-building. This type of language and conduct is completely contrary to our ideology and moral values,” BJP Kota city president Rakesh Jain said.
A senior Karni Sena leader also said that Singh did not have any association with the group.
(With PTI inputs)
