BJP not targeting Rahul Gandhi as 'people have already rejected him': V Muraleedharan

New Delhi [India], December 28 (ANI): Reacting sharply to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Italy visit amid the farmers' protest and a day before the party's foundation day on Monday, Union Minister V Muraleedharan said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not targeting the Wayanad MP as 'people have rejected him'.
"The BJP is not targeting any leader because people have rejected Rahul Gandhi, so why should we target him? There will be criticism by the people as Rahul Gandhi claimed to be leading the farmers' agitation. He is declaring solidarity with protesters and now he runs away from the agitation ground. So people may criticise him but, we are not criticising him," Minister of State for External Affairs Muraleedharan told ANI.
This comes after Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said the BJP is indulging in "low-level politics".
"BJP is indulging in low-level politics. They are targeting Rahul Gandhi because they want to target only one leader," the Congress General Secretary said.
The statements came following several BJP leaders targetted Gandhi as he flew off to Italy on Sunday amid the farmers' protest and a day before the party's foundation day.
Commenting upon Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala's accusations that Prime Minister of India is behaving like the East India Company, Muraleedharan said, "Randeep Surjewala should read history once more and then understand it in the right perspective. Who was British and who was against it?"
Surjewala has hit out at the BJP and accused the Prime Minister of behaving like the East India Company. He even said, "Those who sat on the laps of the Britishers are now deciding the fate of the country and cannot see the pain of the farmers."
Saying that the Prime Minister should not act arbitrarily like East India Company, he asked, "45 farmers have died, how many more will have to die before government talks to them?"
Meanwhile, to resolve the impasse, the central government has called farmers for a meeting on December 30 at 2 pm at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.
Farmers have continued their protest at the borders of Delhi against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (ANI)