Question are raised on capable leaders in Congress: Jyotiraditya Scindia

Former Union minister and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday attacked the Congress, saying question marks are raised on capable leaders in the party and cited the example of Sachin Pilot, who had briefly rebelled against the leadership in Rajasthan.

Scindia, who quit the Congress and joined the BJP in March, said curbs should be imposed to check objectionable posts on social media.

Pilot is my friend. Everybody is aware of the pain that he has gone through. How after so much delay the Congress is trying to set its house in order is also known to everyone, he told reporters.

It is a matter of pain that in the Congress questions are raised on capable leaders. My ex-colleague also faced a similar situation recently," he said, referring to Pilot, who had rebelled against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, but later reached a truce with the Congress leadership.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, he said under his stewardship, the NDA government scrapped Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and gave a befitting reply to China over the border stand-off.

Scindia also referred to Modi performing the 'bhoomi pujan' for a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya on August 5.

Asked to comment on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegation, in the backdrop of a report in a US daily, that Facebook ignored applying its hate speech rules to BJP politicians, he said "The Internet is an independent medium."

"When people who have nothing to say after losing faith of citizens, then catch hold of such issues."

However, he said "I am of the opinion that strict curbs should be imposed where objectionable things are said against anyone on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms."

Facebook is at the centre of a political slugfest over allegations of supporting the BJP.

Asked about Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath's statement that the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had got the locks of Ram mandir at Ayodhya opened in 1985, Scindia pointed out that his party colleague Shashi Tharoor has been making contradictory statements on the temple issue.

"The Congress is getting entangled (on the issue of Ram temple) as the party does not know what its leaders have done and what they have not done," the BJP MP said.