BJP’s Politics of Intimidation May Be Backfiring

 

BJP’s Politics of Intimidation May Be Backfiring

Hindi Version: https://rakeshinsightfulgaze.blogspot.com/2026/09/blog-post_09.html

Yesterday, I wrote about the scare involving Rahul Gandhi’s plane while landing in Lucknow. Now something far more disturbing has happened: a man threatened to shoot Rahul Gandhi and 25 Congress MPs after the controversy over allegations that Congress MPs had abused Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju publicly pushed those allegations, while Congress strongly disputed them. The man who subsequently made the threats was detained by police in Kota.

This is where political rhetoric becomes dangerous. A powerful minister makes an explosive allegation, television and social media amplify it, political anger builds, and eventually somebody starts talking about shooting elected representatives. The person making the threat is responsible for his own actions, but India must also ask what created the environment around that threat.

For years, Rahul Gandhi has faced FIRs and criminal complaints over words that complainants considered insulting or offensive. The BJP and its supporters have repeatedly argued that politicians must be responsible for what they say. Fine. Then apply that principle equally. Here we are not talking merely about hurt feelings; we are talking about threats to shoot the Leader of the Opposition and other elected MPs.

In my view, an FIR should be filed against Kiren Rijiju so his statements and their surrounding circumstances can be investigated. If Rajnath Singh also made or repeated the disputed allegations, his statements should face the same scrutiny. An FIR is not a conviction. Investigators should determine exactly what was said, what evidence supported it, what the man making the threats watched or heard, and whether any law was violated.

This is also why the BJP’s old politics of intimidation may be losing its power. Fear works only while people remain afraid. When people accused of making threats start landing in police custody, bureaucrats, police officers and other officials may begin realizing that political power is temporary and that eventually everyone can be asked to account for what they did.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi keeps asking questions. The BJP spent years and enormous political energy selling him as “Pappu.” Now Pappu is Leader of the Opposition, keeps challenging the government, and refuses to disappear. When uncomfortable questions arise, another controversy about Rahul somehow seems to arrive. This time we are told Congress MPs abused the Speaker. If that happened, show the evidence and take action. If it did not, those who spread the allegation should answer for it.

The same principle must apply everywhere to ministers, opposition leaders, police, bureaucrats and election officials. Democracy cannot function with one law for those in power and another for those questioning them. If Rahul Gandhi’s words can bring an FIR because somebody claims to have been insulted, then death threats against Rahul Gandhi and 25 MPs certainly justify investigating the political rhetoric surrounding those threats.

The politics of fear has one fatal weakness: it stops working when people stop being afraid. The BJP spent years trying to turn Rahul Gandhi into Pappu. Now Pappu keeps asking the questions, the threat-makers are starting to meet the police, and the old script suddenly does not look quite so frightening. One Constitution, one law, one standard for everyone.