‘Completely unacceptable’: BJP defends Ravneet Singh Bittu, slams Rahul Gandhi for traitor jibe ‘on Sikh community’

The BJP’s Sikh leaders criticised Rahul Gandhi’s use of the word traitor against Union MoS Ravneet Singh Bittu, pointing out that his grandfather had fallen to an assassin’s bullet.

3 min readNew DelhiFeb 4, 2026 04:45 PM IST

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi with suspended Lok Sabha MPs during a protest at the Parliament, in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)

The BJP on Wednesday came out all guns blazing against Rahul Gandhi, alleging that by referring to Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu as a “traitor” during a brief exchange in the Parliament premises, the leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha had called into question the sacrifices of the entire Sikh community.

Taking on what he termed “the mindset” behind the desecration of the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the senior Congress leader’s statement had more import than its translation in Hindi as ‘gaddar’ afforded.

“A traitor is someone who betrays his nation; this term is used in espionage…for those who sell out the nation…this word should not be taken lightly…this is a serious issue for the Sikh community,” Puri alleged at a press conference at the BJP national headquarters.

“Who is Bittu ji? He is not just a Member of Parliament…of a Sikh family that has served the nation, his own grandfather, Sardar Beant Singh ji, who was Punjab’s chief minister, he fell to an assassin’s bullet. Going after such a person and community?” he asked.

Puri sought to underscore that the core message of the religion of Sikhism was that of humanity.

Referring to the desecration of the Golden Temple in 1984 without naming the then Congress government, Puri sought to underline “the mindset” behind it. “Who did it (the desecration)? I do not need to place the facts before you. This mindset…I can understand that Rahul ji, as LoP, is upset that Bittu ji was earlier in his party, but left it…but to call him traitor?” he asked.

“It is a mindset—the desecration of the Golden Temple in 1984 and, day in and day out, earlier he would use such words when he was away from the country, trying to undermine the country. Now…he is criticising members of the armed forces…irrespective of the…population of the Sikh community, do you know how much it contributes to the armed forces, 20 per cent plus?… Just because a person wears a turban and has left your party, you express it in terms of ‘traitor’,” he alleged.

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This term, Puri added, was “completely unacceptable” for labelling any community, and all the more when its subject came from a family that had sacrificed for the nation.

Parliamentary discourse, whether inside or outside the Parliament, said Puri, had to be “grounded at all points of time” in decency and dignified language.

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