Rahul Gandhi uses Hindi idioms to target Centre for raiding 'pro-farmer' voices, BJP hits back

Rahul Gandhi used the hashtag 'ModiRaidsProFarmers' on Twitter to take a dig at the government.

Hindi idioms took centre stage in a political slugfest between the Congress and the ruling BJP on Thursday as Rahul Gandhi cited them to accuse the government of using probe agencies to target critical voices, prompting Union minister Prakash Javadekar to invoke a few sayings to hit back.

A day after income-tax raids at the homes and offices of Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and others, Gandhi used the hashtag 'ModiRaidsProFarmers' with his tweet in Hindi to take a dig at the government.

Putting out three popular Hindi idioms -- 'Ungliyon pe nachana', 'Bheegi billi banna' and 'Khisiyani billi khamba noche' -- Gandhi stated what he believes they mean in the current context.

In his three-pronged attack, he alleged that the central government makes the income tax department dance to its tunes, friendly media gets cowed down before the Centre and the central government raids those supporting farmers.

Pannu and Kashyap are known to be outspoken in their views on a range of issues.

Hitting back, Javadekar asked Gandhi to recall three more Hindi idioms -- 'Sau chuhe khakar billi chali Haj ko', 'Ungliyon per gine ja sakna' and 'ranga siyar' -- to target the Congress.

He used the first saying to mock the Congress for giving a lesson in media freedom after stifling it during the Emergency, the second for the current political standing of the party and the third for a "family party" like it lecturing on democracy and "the most communal party" pretending to be secular.

The searches against Pannu and Kashyap as well as his partners who launched the now-shuttered production house Phantom Films were carried out across 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune. They were part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films, officials said.

Read: Income Tax department raids Taapsee Pannu, Anurag Kashyap, others in tax evasion probe

Pannu and Kashyap were shooting in Pune and are understood to have been questioned by the tax sleuths as part of the preliminary questioning that takes place during raids.

The raids also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed.

At a press conference, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said that the Modi government has given complete freedom to probe agencies, and no one is a Bollywood star or a celebrity in their eyes.

Also Read | Emergency was a mistake: Rahul Gandhi

Everybody now gets the same treatment while it is the Congress's character to bend laws to help certain people and spare even criminals if they sing praises of the Gandhi family, he claimed.

If somebody breaks the law, evade tax or conspire against the country, then probe agencies will do their job, he said.

The Congress destroys institution when in power and tries to discredit them when in opposition, Bhatia alleged.

He cited cases against Sudha Bharadwaj, an activist arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, Sharjeel Imam, booked for sedition, and Umar Khalid, an accused in a Delhi riots case, to say they have failed to get any relief from courts and remain behind bars even though probe agencies were criticised for action against them.

Asked about bail given to climate activist Disha Ravi, he said bail does not absolve an accused of charges and probe agencies can always approach higher courts.

The Congress is practising politics of "anarchy" by targeting institutions, he said.