BJP has unnecessarily brought Rajiv Gandhi into picture: Sam Pitroda

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unnecessarily brought Rajiv Gandhi into the picture and "the people like me who have worked with him are very upset," said Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) chief Sam Pitroda here on Wednesday.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government has unnecessarily brought in Rajiv Gandhi into the picture. People like me, who have worked with Rajiv Gandhi, are very upset," Pitroda told media persons here.

Rajiv Gandhi, who served as the 6th Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989, was assassinated on May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, where he had gone to address a public meeting.

"In this election, there are two main issues. One is the idea of India. We believe the BJP government has attacked democracy, freedom, diversity. It has constantly lied about Rahul Gandhi's degree, court cases or citizenship," he said.

"The other is the fact that in the last five years, BJP has not delivered anything. If you go back to 2014 and see the promises Prime Minister Modi made to the people of India, none of those big promises has been addressed at all," added Pitroda.

It is worth mentioning the Election Commission of India on Tuesday gave clean chit to Prime Minister Modi for his 'Bhrashtachari No 1' remark against Rajiv Gandhi, which the Congress party had termed as the violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Pitroda went on to add that the Congress party is confident of its win in the Lok Sabha elections.

"Looking at the first five phases of the Lok Sabha elections, we are winning and doing well. The Modi government is going. People of the Modi government are really very concerned. Prime Minister Modi's attacks, tone, and body language tell us very clearly that this government will go on May 23," he said.

Talking about Punjab, Pitroda said: "We are confident of doing very well under the leadership of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. He has been a strong leader and worked very hard. Out of 13 seats in Punjab, we will probably win a lot of it."

The Lok Sabha elections in Punjab will be held on May 19, the last phase of seven-phased voting. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.