New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reacted angrily after Ruta Awhad, wife of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) MLA Jitendra Awhad appeared to compare former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam and terrorist Osama Bin Laden. BJP spokespersons lashed out at the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP and the INDIA alliance as a whole and accused the Opposition of always having been sympathetic towards terrorists.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused INDIA of having a 'soft corner' towards terrorists. In a video posted by ANI on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Poonawalla could be seen accusing a long list of leaders from the alliance supporting terrorists from Ajmal Amir Kasab, Yakub Memon, Afzal Guru and more.
"…They are blaming the society that Osama became a terrorist… Jitendra Awhad also glorified Ishrat Jahan, who was a certified terrorist and Intelligence Agencies said that she was a LeT terrorist on a mission to kill a CM… Having a soft corner for terrorists is the character of the INDI Alliance…" said Poonawalla.
#WATCH | Delhi: On the statement by NCP-SCP leader Jitendra Awhad’s wife on Osama Bin Laden, BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla says, “All the alliance parties of the INDI Alliance…have a soft corner towards terrorists. Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar gave a clean chit… pic.twitter.com/aWrOeJnPex
— ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2024
Pradeep Bhandari, former journalist who is now national spokesperson of BJP, alleged that this was a strategy adopted by the INDIA alliance and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to 'appease' its vote bank.
"…Does Sharad Pawar and Rahul Gandhi endorse the view that Osama Bin Laden was a " Happen to be terrorist" and children should read biography of "Terrorists"?" he posted on X.
What did Ruta Awhad say?
A video of Ruta Awhad, wife of Jitendra Awhad has been doing rounds on social media platforms. In the video, she can be heard drawing similarities between Kalam and Bin Laden.
‘Just Like Abdul Kalam…’: NCP-SP Leader Jitendra Awhad’s Wife Ruta Compares Ex-President With Osama Bin Laden; Sparks Major Controversy (Video)
"Read the biography of Osama Bin Laden. Just like APJ Abdul Kalam became Kalam Saheb, Osama became a terrorist. But why did he become a terrorist? He was not born one. Society made him one. He became a terrorist out of frustration," Ruta Awhad can be heard as saying.
I heard that Ruta Sawant, the wife of Jitendra Awhad, made a comparison between Osama Bin Laden and Abdul Kalam. This is really shocking, friends.#MVAsupportsOsamapic.twitter.com/UkV3HmA0iN
— siya (@impmpatel) September 27, 2024
It is being said on social media that the program Ruta Awhad was speaking in was organised in Mumbra.