‘Chor machaye shor’: BJP attacks Congress’s national campaign to ‘expose lies’ on National Herald

“…Chor machaye shor; from today, the Congress’s senior leaders will go to different parts of the country to do press conferences to save ma-beta…A person who, along with his mother, is out on bail on a bond of Rs. 50,000, and believes that people will believe him when he defames the country while in a foreign land, is delusional,” Patra told a press conference.

“You all know that they got bail on a surety of Rs. 50,000 in the year 2018… The mother and son had, as part of a Jashn-e-Bhrashtachar (celebration of corruption), gone to their office with band-baaja, then too we had said that this is nothing but a celebration of corruption. Today too, it is that,” he added.

Referring to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheet in the case, Patra said the law would take its own course, and it was “frustration” related to this that had led the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha to make the comments aimed at “defaming the nation and its great democracy” on foreign land.

He said it was ironic that Rahul had travelled to the United States for three days to “defame Bharat” even as US Vice President J D Vance was in India.

“We should recall that the same thing was done by Rahul ji and all their leaders when the Commonwealth (Games in 2010) were on…Rahul ji calls the ECI compromised in the US, referring to the Maharashtra Assembly election results,” Patra said.

“I want to ask him, the Jharkhand Assembly elections also happened then; did you enter into a compromise with the ECI then? …Priyanka Vadra also won the polls during the bye elections held during the same period… Was this because she, too, with Robert Vadra’s mediation, entered into a compromise with the Election Commission? Is this why she won, or was it because of her hard work?” he asked.

When the BJP’s rally settled at 240 seats compared to the Congress’s 99, Patra asked whether it was due to a compromise with EC.

“The Rahul Gandhi who attacks India in such a way while in a foreign land should remember that he is out on a bail bond of Rs. 50,000; he is an accused, he is corrupt…the National Herald case is not one of theft but dacoity… ED will not leave you,” he alleged.

“After all this, mother and son have the gumption to point a finger at India’s democracy? Rahul Gandhi, you will not be able to practice politics in India, go to some other country and do it — but if you puncture a while in the same thali that you eat from, you will be called a traitor… You are a traitor not only because you defame the country and allege that its democracy is lacking in a foreign land but also because you have usurped public property worth several crores for your benefit,” he also alleged, adding that the attempt was to take out frustration against ED on the Election Commission.