'He Lost His Life Due to Their Hatred': Ahmed Patel Blames BJP for Rajiv Gandhi's Assassination

Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP for targeting Rajiv Gandhi during their election campaigns, saying it was the saffron party that was responsible for the former PM’s assassination.

Taking to Twitter, Patel said: “The BJP backed VP Singh govt refused to provide him with additional security & left him with one PSO despite credible intelligence inputs and repeated requests. Rajiv ji lost his life due to their hatred & is no longer here amongst us to answer the baseless allegations & abuses which are being unleashed on him."

The senior leader’s statement comes amid a verbal duel between the parties over the late prime minister. On Wednesday, PM Modi accused the Gandhi family of using warship INS Viraat as its "personal taxi" when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.

Addressing a poll rally in Delhi, Modi said: “INS Viraat was insulted by using it as a personal taxi. This happened when Rajiv Gandhi and his family was out for a 10-day vacation. INS Viraat was deployed for securing our maritime boundary. But it was diverted to take the Gandhi family which was out for a vacation," Modi said. He also claimed that after picking up the Gandhi family, INS Viraat halted at an island for 10 days.

His allegations came just a day after he received flak for calling Gandhi “corrupt No.1", with academicians and opposition leaders saying the prime minister lowered the dignity of his office by making such comments about a former prime minister, who was no longer alive.