Rahul Gandhi addressing a rally in MP’s Sheopur on Tuesday. (Source: Twitter/INCIndia) Rahul Gandhi addressing a rally in MP’s Sheopur on Tuesday. (Source: Twitter/INCIndia)

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ slogan, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the slogan should be changed to “Beti Padhao, BJP ke netaonse, mantrionse, MLAs se beti bachao (save the daughter from BJP leaders, ministers, and MLAs) in the wake of recent allegations of sexual harassment against BJP ministers.

Addressing a rally in Sheopur district of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the Congress president said, “Modiji ne bahot accha nara diya tha Beti Padhao Beti Bachao. Narendra Modi ke mantri par sawal uthaya jaata hai. Uttar Pradesh me BJP ka MLA balatkar karta hai rape karta hai. Pradhan Mantri ke muh se ek shabd nahi nikalta (Modiji had given a good slogan Beti Padhao Beti Bachao. Narendra Modi’s minister is questioned. A BJP MLA in Uttar Pradesh commits rape but the prime minister does not utter a word).”

Gandhi was taking a dig at the prime minister over the allegations of sexual misconduct against Union minister M J Akbar and the rape charges against BJP’s Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar. “Not only the PM but even the (BJP) chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh did not say a word,” Gandhi said. He said the slogan should be tweaked to read “Beti Padhao BJP ke netaonse, mantrionse, MLAs se beti bachao (save the daughter from BJP leaders, ministers and MLAs).

Akbar, the Minister of State for External Affairs in the NDA government, has been accused by over a dozen women of sexual misconduct. The Opposition parties led by the Congress have been actively seeking the Centre’s response over the matter and have been demanding Akbar’s resignation from the cabinet of ministers. Akbar, however, has rubbished the charges against him and have filed a criminal defamation case against one of the accusers, journalist Priya Ramani.

UP’s Bangermau MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar is an accused in the Unnao rape case. CBI named him in the chargesheet filed in the case on June 11. The incident had come to light in April after the 17-year-old girl, who had alleged to be raped by Sengar at his residence, tried to commit suicide outside UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence, alleging police inaction even though she had approached them several months earlier. The kin of the victim had also alleged that the family was thrashed after a complaint was filed with the police in this regard. The incident had led to nationwide anger, prompting the state government to hand over the investigation to CBI.

Rahul rakes up Vyapam issue; accuses RSS, Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Gandhi also accused the RSS and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of being involved in the Vyapam scam. He alleged that there was a chain of corruption in Madhya Pradesh with the chief minister and his family on the top.

“No matter how hard you study, if you don’t have money you can’t progress in the state. That’s what Vyapam (scam) is all about. You study in difficult conditions and then Shivraj (CM), people of RSS and BJP’s organisation do Vyapam,” he told the rally, referring to the scam that involved rigging of examination and recruitment tests conducted by Vyapam, Hindi acronym for the state professional examination board.

“Everyone knows what the chief minister and his wife did or did not do,” the Congress president said. He alleged that BJP ministers, bureaucrats and the chief minister benefited directly from the e-tendering scam.

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