Bittu criticized the Congress for inducting someone accused of rape.
Days after joining the Congress, former MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains has stirred controversy by releasing a recorded phone call purportedly featuring BJP candidate in Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu, criticizing senior leaders of both parties for opposing Bains’s entry.
The audio, released on Saturday evening, allegedly captures Bittu, a three-time MP and former Congress member, disparaging the BJP and its leaders. In the recording, Bittu purportedly tells Bains in Punjabi, “One thing I tell you, such is their state of affairs (in BJP) that the prime minister hugs those who approach them even wearing fake turbans.”
Bains, a former MLA from Atam Nagar in Ludhiana and former chief of Lok Insaaf Party, contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls against Bittu, securing the second-highest number of votes. However, his political career was marred by a rape case filed against him in 2022. As the 2024 Lok Sabha elections approach, Bains was in talks with both the BJP and Congress to merge his party, despite opposition from several leaders due to the rape allegations. Recently, Bains joined the Congress in the presence of Rahul Gandhi. Following this, Bittu criticized the Congress for inducting someone accused of rape.
Bains shared the alleged audio on his Facebook page, stating, “This conversation is from before I joined Congress and after Ravneet Bittu ji joined BJP.” Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, also the party’s candidate in Ludhiana, shared the audio on social media, mocking Bittu.
In a video accompanying the audio release, Bains vouched for its authenticity, daring authorities to file an FIR against him if any editing was found. The recording reveals Bittu addressing Bains as “sir” and expressing frustration over resistance to Bains’s entry into Congress, naming Warring, Opposition leader Partap Singh Bajwa, and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu among others. Bittu allegedly urged Bains to join the BJP, claiming internal opposition within the party from state BJP president Sunil Jakhar and leader Parminder Brar.
Bains responded skeptically, to which Bittu supposedly said, “They are afraid…If Bains comes, we will have to shut up shop.” Bittu further claimed that BJP’s organizing secretary for Punjab and Chandigarh, Srinivasulu, supported Bains’s entry, but Jakhar was a roadblock.
The conversation ended with Bains proposing a secret meeting later. In his Facebook video, Bains explained he released the audio because Bittu had been repeatedly targeting him. Bittu responded by invoking the rape case against Bains, questioning the safety of women at Congress events with Bains present.
Bains refuted the charges, labeling the rape case a political conspiracy. He accused Bittu of maligning leaders from both Congress and BJP. Bains also hinted at possessing more recordings of their conversations.
Bains criticized Bittu’s intellect, claiming, “His personality remains the same until he speaks…jadon bol paye gayi majh paani vich (As he speaks, one gets disillusioned).”
Locked in a fierce electoral battle in Ludhiana, Bittu faces Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, with both sides engaging in heated exchanges. Bittu has called Warring an “outsider” in the Lok Sabha constituency.
Bittu informed the media that he is seeking legal advice to send a notice under the IT Act regarding the audio leak. He claimed the recording was part of standard political outreach, saying, “As a politician, we ask everyone to come and join the party during elections.”