BJP hits out Rahul Gandhi over ‘dog biscuit’ row; Congress leader responds

NEW DELHI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched a fresh attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over a viral video where the Wayanad MP was seen giving a dog’s biscuit to a person after the animal refused to eat it during his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’.

The purported video which went viral on social media, showed Gandhi petting a puppy and then feeding it biscuits. At one point, the puppy refuses to eat and Gandhi then gives the biscuits to a person standing by his side.

However, the video shared by the official Bharat Jodo Yatra handle did not include the biscuit clip.

The BJP had targeted the Congress leader over the video, alleging that Rahul Gandhi was ‘mistreating his supporters’.

Once associated with Congress, Himanta Biswa Sarma who has often recounted an earlier incident where he claimed that during a meeting with Rahul Gandhi, the latter’s pet dog, Pidi, was given biscuits from a plate, which were then offered to the Congress leaders present, hit out at the Wayanad MP, saying that he and his family could not make him “eat the biscuit”.

Pallavi ji, not only Rahul Gandhi but the entire family could not make me eat that biscuit. I am a proud Assamese and Indian . I refused to eat and resign from the Congress. https://t.co/ywumO3iuBr

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) February 5, 2024

“I am a proud Assamese and Indian. I refused to eat and resigned from the Congress,” Assam CM said on Monday.

Head of BJP IT cell Amit Malviya said, “Just a few days ago, Congress President Kharge ji compared the party’s booth agents to dogs and here Rahul Gandhi is feeding biscuits to a dog during his visit and when the dog did not eat, he gave the same biscuits to his worker.”

Malviya further said that if a party whose president and crown prince treats its party workers like dogs, then it is natural for such a party to disappear.
However, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday clarified that the man who was seen in the video is actually the dog’s owner.

“The dog was nervous, shivering and when I tried to feed it, it got scared. So I gave biscuits to the dog’s owner and the dog ate them from his hand. I don’t understand what’s the issue,” he said during a media interaction.

Asked about the BJP’s allegations that claimed that the man in the video was a Congress worker, he replied, “No, he was not a Congress worker. I don’t understand the BJP’s obsession with dogs. How have dogs harmed them?” (ANI)