BJP’s ‘Rajiv Gandhi fled during 1971’ jibe to counter Rahul’s Ukraine questions

As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday questioned the government on the front of the evacuation of Indians stranded in Ukraine, BJP’s Amit Malviya attacked Rahul Gandhi saying that his father went on leave during the 1971 war with Pakistan.

“No country has undertaken evacuation in Ukraine on the scale India has. Yet, Rahul Gandhi, whose father, an AI pilot, went on leave during the 1971 war with Pak, then in 1977, when Indira lost power, the family hid in the Italian Embassy, is questioning us on securing Indians!” Amit Malviya tweeted.

This claim on Rajiv Gandhi is not new and it surfaces from time to time on social media and WhatsApp. However, the claim remains disputed as many historians claimed Rajiv Gandhi had no role to play in the 1971 war.

As Ukraine is facing a humanitarian crisis with many Indians stranded there, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asked the government to disclose how many students have been evacuated and how many are still stranded in Ukraine, and demanded that the Centre should out its “clear strategy” to their families.

Sharing video appeals of students from Ukraine, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi have been expressing concerns for the Indians stranded in Ukraine. Congress has launched a “SpeakUpForStudents” campaign on social media to pressure the government to take steps to ensure the early safe evacuation of all Indian students from Ukraine.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, “It is truly disheartening to see Narendra Modi Government asleep even after the death of an Indian student! Urgent steps should have been taken days ago, but our PM and his ministers were busy finding “aapda mein avsar” and running their PR campaign even in the middle of a war crisis!”