Rahul Gandhi escapes unhurt after his car gets vandalised in Gujarat, Congress blames BJP 'goons' for attack

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s car was attacked on Friday at Lal Chowk in the flood-affected Banaskantha district of Gujarat. AICC media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted images of the car and claimed that BJP “goons” were involved. He also claimed that while Rahul escaped unhurt, his security staff received minor injuries.

BJP goons attack Cong VP Rahulji's car in Lal Chowk, Dhanera, Banaskanta, Gujarat. Disgusting & disgraceful. 1/n pic.twitter.com/2lkvtDHsOQ

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 4, 2017

Windowpanes of Cong VP's car broken in an organized attack by goons,security staff injured. BJP must know truth can't be silenced. 3/3 pic.twitter.com/Sswntiowf8

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 4, 2017

According to The Indian Express, Rahul was sitting in the front seat and the SPG commandos travelling with him were sitting at the back. Banaskantha Superintendent of Police Neeraj Badgujar confirmed that a stone was thrown at Rahul’s car while he was on his way to the helipad after meeting flood victims at Dhanera. Surjewala further said that there have been 218 deaths in Gujarat due to floods, and 61 have only been reported in Banaskantha. “The prime minister only does an aerial view of the affected areas while the chief minister takes five days to plan a visit. BJP only attacks Opposition,” he said. According to reports, the windows of the car were broken by people waving black flags and shouting slogans in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi told reporters that Rahul was attacked with cement bricks by BJP goons and the incident should be condemned unequivocally. Congress also said that the attack is a reflection of the failure of the state government in maintaining law and order. ANI reported that Rahul was greeted with black flags in the district, to which he replied, “let people wave black flags but it doesn’t bother me because these people are scared.”

Gujarat: Black flags shown to Congress VP Rahul Gandhi in Banaskantha. pic.twitter.com/qZ7aHdAU1D

— ANI (@ANI) August 4, 2017

Rahul tweeted that they won’t back down despite Modi’s black flags and stones. He also said that the Congress will do anything in its power to help the people.

नरेंद्र मोदी जी के नारों से, काले झंडों से और पत्थरों से हम पीछे हटने वाले नहीं हैं, हम अपनी पूरी ताकत लोगों की मदद करने में लगाएंगे

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 4, 2017

The BJP, however said that it was an unfortunate incident and the party had no role to play. “This is absolutely false. If any incident has happened, it is unfortunate. I don’t think BJP is behind this,” said BJP MP Jagdambika Pal. Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel said, Rahul had refused a bullet-proof car for travelling and instead opted to travel in a private car. Rahul is scheduled to interact with the flood victims and share their pain during his visit to Banaskantha, according to a party statement. The Gujarat government has declared both Banaskantha and Patan districts as ‘disaster-affected areas’ following the floods due to torrential rains last week. The announcement was made by the state revenue department through a gazette notification issued on Tuesday. With inputs from agencies