NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of manhandling a three-month-pregnant journalist who was covering protest.The saffron party’s spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari shared a video of the woman, identified as Richa Parashar, recounting the alleged incident.Bhandari claimed that she had been hospitalised after the incident.In his post on X, Bhandari wrote: “3 month pregnant Female journalist Richa Parashar was thrashed by Rahul Gandhi when she was covering her protest! Female journalist is admitted in the hospital, and she recounts the horrror!”The BJP spokesperson further said: “Every person should listen to this horror to know how big a goon Rahul Gandhi is & how hollow is his slogan Smash The Patriachy”Speaking to reporters, Bhandari alleged, “You all saw the video showing how Rahul Gandhi shoved a female journalist, using his elbow and grabbing her, causing her to fall; her condition became so serious that she is currently hospitalised. We went to visit her, and she told us that Rahul Gandhi himself grabbed her by the shoulder, yanked her, and threw her to the ground. She wasn’t even asking him questions; she was simply covering the protest.”He further alleged that no Congress worker came forward to help the journalist and that party members instead attempted to cast aspersions on her.“Rahul Gandhi, who speaks of ‘smashing the patriarchy’, behaved like a goon today. You might have seen how he shoved his own Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar, backwards. He elbows his own workers, and the way he manhandled a female journalist makes it clear that Rahul Gandhi is a man filled with hatred, in every fibre of his being, for this country’s democracy and its women,” Bhandari said.
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Bhandari also questioned the Congress leadership’s response to allegations of sexual harassment involving Congress MP and professor Bimole Akoijam, claiming that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had remained silent on the matter.“That is why Rahul and Priyanka remain silent when a JNU professor sexually harasses eleven girls, yet they grab a female journalist, who was merely covering their protest without even asking questions, by the arm and elbow, throwing her to the ground,” he said.Referring to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s slogan, “Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon”, Bhandari urged women to take note of the alleged incident.“Today, the women of this country should see the true face of the Congress party and the reality behind Priyanka Vadra’s slogan of ‘Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon’. We hope she recovers soon and returns to reporting,” he added.Meanwhile, BJP Delhi state vice-president Rajesh Bhatia said he received information about the incident from the journalist’s sister and rushed to the hospital to assist her.
