Poonawala guns for Congress, says party synonymous with lies and insult of tribals

Sharing a video clip on his official X handle in which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is purportedly seen ignoring Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, Poonawala posted, "Adivasi Samaj ka apman, Congress ki pehchaan (Hurling insults at the tribals has come to be the identity of the Congress). On the one hand, Birsa Munda is celebrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the daughter of Adiwasi samaj, Droupadi Murmu has been made the President by NDA and PM Modi, while on the other hand, Rahul Gandhi insults Champai Soren (Jharkhand Chief Minister), who comes from the Adiwasi community on the public stage."

"This is not the first time. They also voted against Droupadi Murmu and even said Draupadi ji had an evil mindset and called her Rashtrapatni! This is their mindset and culture," the BJP national spokesperson stated further in his post.

Claiming that the Gandhi family and the Congress have always had hatred in their hearts for the backward communities, Poonawala posted, "This is because Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party and his family have hatred towards the SC, and ST communities. We have seen their hatred towards Ambedkar-ji. We have also seen how, time and again, the Congress has tried to suppress the real contributions of Birsa Munda."

Labelling the grand old party as anti-tribal, the BJP national spokesperson added, "And today, the anti-tribal face and mindset of the Congress party have been exposed with the behaviour of Rahul Gandhi. This is his true face and charitra (character)."

Earlier, on Wednesday, the Congress came under heavy fire from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP over Sam Pitroda's 'racist' rant in an interview with a reported English daily during which he referred to Indians inhabiting the country's East as resembling the 'Chinese' and those down South as looking like 'Africans'.

Expanding on India being a melting pot of people from different ethnicities, Pitroda said, "We have survived 75 years in a very happy environment where people could live together, leaving aside few fights here and there. We could hold a country together as diverse as India, where people in the East look like Chinese, people in the West look like Arab, people in the North look like white and maybe people in the South look like Africans."

As the remark drew outrage from the BJP as well as a cross-section of Opposition leaders, the Congress was quick to dissociate itself from the statement saying that the views expressed were consistent with the party's position.

In the face of protests, Pitroda stepped down later as the chairperson of the Indian Overseas Congress. (ANI)