MP: BJP burns effigy in Ujjain over Sonia Gandhi’s book

Ujjain, Nov 11 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party workers on Wednesday staged a strong protest against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s newly released book “Belonging: A Journey of Love”, burning her effigy and raising slogans against the Congress party. 

The demonstration was led by Ujjain-Alot MP Anil Firojiya and Ujjain Development Authority Chairman Ravi Solanki. Large numbers of BJP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) workers participated. They accused the book of exposing the Congress party’s long-standing politics of appeasement. 

Addressing the gathering, MP Anil Firojiya alleged that Sonia Gandhi’s autobiography revealed a selective approach to historical events. 

He claimed that while the book described the author crying for two days after the demolition of the Babri structure, it expressed no sorrow or sympathy over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the massacre of Sikhs, or the atrocities committed against women during those riots. 

He also wrote on his X handle with a photo, “The Ujjain Rural unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a strong protest at Shaheed Park against the alleged misrepresentation of historical facts in the book ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love,’ authored by senior Congress leader Smt. Sonia Gandhi. The protesters held a rally and registered their opposition by burning an effigy of her.” 

Firojiya said the Congress had been practising politics of division and appeasement since 1947. 

“The people will give a fitting reply to the Congress through their votes in the coming elections and will never allow the party to return to power,” he declared. 

Protesters raised continuous slogans against Sonia Gandhi and the Congress leadership throughout the demonstration.

 The protest remained largely peaceful but was marked by high-pitched criticism of the book’s content. The controversy over the book has intensified political debate across the country.

 While the Congress has described the book as a personal memoir, the BJP has accused it of attempting to whitewash the historical record of the Nehru-Gandhi family, particularly regarding the 1984 riots. 

In Ujjain, the local BJP unit used the occasion to attack the Congress’s record and link it to contemporary politics of “tushtikaran.” 

Leaders present at the protest said the party would continue to highlight what they described as double standards in the Congress’s approach to different communities and historical events.

The book’s release has triggered protests and statements from several BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere. 

The Ujjain demonstration added to the growing political heat generated by the memoir just days after its publication. 

--IANS

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