Notice to Priyanka Gandhi emanated from BJP's hatred of Nehru-Gandhi family: Venugopal

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been asked to vacate the bungalow allocated to her in Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ) by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Congress MP and General Secretary In-Charge, KC Venugopal has called it "vendetta politics" of the BJP while asserting that "their fight will go on".

New Delhi: The Central Government's notice to Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi to vacate her official residence in Delhi emanated from BJP's deep hatred of Nehru-Gandhi family and their vindictive and vendetta driven politics towards the party, alleged Congress MP and General Secretary In-Charge, KC Venugopal, on Thursday.

The statement comes a day after the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs sent a letter to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asking her to vacate the bungalow allocated to her in Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ), citing the reasons of the withdrawal of SPG protection to her.

Reacting over the matter, Venugopal said, "With the sole purpose of political vengeance, BJP government had removed SPG from the protective duties of Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, last year. The recent decision to send a notice to Priyanka Gandhi is only in continuation of this nefarious design to put their lives at risk."

Gandhi family was granted an SPG cover for their safety, following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in a terrorist attack. The SPG cover was removed last year on the order of Ministry of Home Affairs.

"In spite of constant and continuous Central Intelligence reports on the Apparent threat to the family their security responsibilities were removed from SPG only for cheap political reprisals and vindictiveness," alleged Venugopal.

He further stated that the "energetic and pro-poor" political interventions of Priyanka Gandhi against BJP Government's "anti-people" policies, prompted it to take such "petty and potentially dangerous" decision.

While citing the incident when the Gandhi family donated its ancestral home, Anand Bhawan, the Congress leader slammed the Government, "It is natural for the followers of those who turn their back towards the interest of country during the struggle for independence to have a deep hatred towards the success of Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, who had been imprisoned many times for the independence of the country."

"Such thoughtless actions from the government aimed at unleashing political vengeance code endanger the life of Gandhi family members. Neither Congress nor the Gandhi family can be silenced by such cheap, pettiness and threats," he added.