‘Pannun backed Rahul, yet…’: Union minister on ‘terrorist’ remark for Cong MP

Explaining why he targeted Rahul Gandhi for the Congress MP’s recent comment on Sikhs, Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Wednesday pointed out that the party did not condemn Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s backing for Gandhi’s assertion.
Pannun leads the pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ). The US-based SFJ is banned in India and Pannun is a designated terrorist.
“I want to tell (Congress president) Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress workers that you can protest against me if this makes the Gandhi family happy. When Rahul Gandhi said something against the Sikhs, he was supported by the biggest enemy of the country, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is conducting a referendum for Khalistan,” Bittu said in a video message.
“I waited for two days thinking that the Congress or Congress president might condemn this. When this did not happen, I said it is clear that Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leaders are standing with Pannun,” he added.
On Wednesday, the grand old party filed a police complaint against its former member, who resigned from it and joined the ruling BJP in March.
Bittu, a Sikh, had called Gandhi a ‘number one terrorist’ for the latter’s remarks on the community. following which similar comments were made by various leaders of the saffron party and its allies on Gandhi.
Congress chief Kharge wrote to prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday against remarks by leaders of the BJP and allies against Gandhi, the current Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The Rae Bareli MP made the controversial statement during his recent visit to the United States, his maiden foreign trip in his capacity as the LoP.