Entire Sikh community anguished over Rahul calling Bittu traitor: BJP

New Delhi, Feb 4: The BJP slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday for calling Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu a traitor and said the entire Sikh community is anguished over his remarks. Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri alleged that Gandhi called Bittu a traitor simply because the latter had quit the Congress. “This word, traitor, can not be taken lightly. The word is used for someone who has betrayed his country. This is a very sensitive issue for the Sikh community,” Puri said “Ravneet Singh Bittu is not just an MP elected from Ludhiana, he is not just a member of a Sikh family that has served the country, his grandfather, Sardar Beant Singh, who was the chief minister of Punjab, fell to an assassin’s bullet. And you call him a traitor. This is unacceptable,” the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader added. Slamming Gandhi for his remarks, BJP leader Arvinder Singh Lovely said the entire Sikh community is extremely anguished over the Congress leader calling Bittu a traitor. “It is unfortunate,” Lovely said. Gandhi exchanged barbs with former party colleague Bittu in the Parliament House complex on Wednesday. In videos released by the Congress, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha was heard calling Bittu a “traitor” and the minister retorting with the “desh ke dushman” (enemy of the nation) jibe.