BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed Rahul Gandhi for insisting the INDIA bloc hold a rally on November 1 at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. He said the date was chosen to "rub salt into the wounds" of Sikh victims of the 1984 riots.
The choice of November 1 is loaded: the day marks the anniversary of the anti‑Sikh riots that erupted after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984. Prasad’s remarks came at a BJP press conference in the capital, where he accused Gandhi of being unyielding and of playing a cruel joke on Sikhs.
The rally, part of the INDIA coalition’s Delhi Chalo march, is expected to draw at least 10 lakh protestors. Leaders hope the gathering will send a message of unity against alleged vote‑cheating and Election Commission irregularities, according to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Congress officials say the date is symbolic of standing up for democratic values, not of rekindling past wounds. A meeting held at the AICC headquarters on Friday saw Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K C Venugopal brief state leaders on the rally’s logistics and security.
Prasad’s criticism has prompted calls for a review of the rally’s timing. Rahul Gandhi has yet to respond publicly, but the BJP’s call for a change could force the Congress to either shift the date or face heightened communal tensions ahead of the forthcoming general elections.