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4 min readJaipur, New DelhiUpdated: Feb 19, 2026 06:59 PM IST
A man from Kota has been detained after allegedly threatening to shoot Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other party MPs in a viral video. (Source: FB)
Police in Rajasthan’s Kota on Thursday arrested a man accused of uploading a video threatening to shoot Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other MPs from the party.
According to police, the man in the video, who identified himself as Raj Singh and claimed to be the spokesperson of the Karni Sena’s Kota unit, claimed to be angered by the Congress MPs’ behaviour towards Lok Sabha Speaker and Kota MP Om Birla in Parliament.
In a video, Singh is heard saying that Karni Sena workers were upset over the “several abuses hurled at Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla by 25 Congress MPs during the first part of the recently concluded Parliament session”. He claimed in the video that he had “reasons to believe that all this was done on the orders of Rahul Gandhi”. He is heard issuing a threat in the video, saying that if Rahul Gandhi and the MPs do not “apologise to Om Birla”, then they would be shot in their homes.
After the video surfaced on social media, police in Kota arrested the accused. Kota Superintendent of Police Tejaswini Gautam told The Indian Express that the man was arrested at Borkheda police station and was being questioned in connection with the video.
“We have received a complaint from the Congress leaders of Kota against the man. Under section 170 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, we have arrested the accused for further investigation. The Karni Sena members of Kota have told us that this man is not their spokesperson and claim they have nothing to do with him,” said Gautam.
Both the BJP and the Karni Sena have denied any connection to the man. BJP Kota city president Rakesh Jain said that the man seen in the video has no affiliation with the party.
National president of Karni Sena, Mahipal Singh Makrana, released the video in which he said the man who threatened Rahul Gandhi and other Congress MPs has nothing to do with Karni Sena.
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“As members of Karni Sena, we usually protest against an individual or show black flags. However, threatening to kill someone or attacking someone is not the way our group works. Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi are both respectable figures of the country. We have respect for them and condemn this type of video,” said Makrana.
Congress and other parties have attacked Birla for not allowing Rahul Gandhi to quote from or speak about former Indian Army Chief General M M Naravane’s unpublished memoir, and for Birla’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have been attacked inside the House.
Congress slams the BJP
The Congress hit out at the BJP in connection with the incident.
Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal alleged that “self-proclaimed Modi bhakts” are “brazenly issuing death threats” against Rahul Gandhi “in broad daylight without any reprimand from the ruling regime”.
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“This is a direct result of the toxic culture of animosity and vengeance created by the BJP in the national discourse — right from Parliament to political rallies,” Venugopal, the Congress’s general secretary (organisation), said.
He accused the BJP of treating “political opponents as die-hard enemies to be eliminated”. “Their foot soldiers, blinded by hate, are unleashed to intimidate Opposition leaders,” he said.
Asserting that Rahul Gandhi would not be scared by threats, he said, “Rahul ji is from the legacy of Indira Gandhi ji and Rajiv Gandhi ji, and he has given us all the slogan of ‘daro mat’.”
Pawan Khera, the chairman of the Congress’s Media and Publicity Department, alleged that the “RSS-BJP ecosystem is a ‘Godse factory’.”
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“The threat issued by the so-called Karni Sena against Rahul Gandhi and the ‘25 Members of Parliament’ is not an isolated outburst. It is part of a calculated and devious plan,” said Khera.
Parul Kulshrestha is a Principal Correspondent for The Indian Express, based in Rajasthan. A lawyer turned journalist, she brings a unique cross-disciplinary perspective to her reporting, blending legal precision with deep social inquiry to cover one of India's most culturally and politically vibrant regions. Expertise and Experience Legal-Journalistic Synergy: Parul’s transition from a legal background to mainstream journalism provides her with a distinct advantage in interpreting policy, legislation, and judicial impacts. This expertise allows her to "read between the lines" of government orders and court rulings affecting the public. Diverse Beat: With years of experience across both mainstream newsrooms and independent journalism, she has built high-level authority in several critical areas: Nomadic Tribes & Marginalized Communities: She is recognized for her sensitive and in-depth reporting on the struggles and rights of Rajasthan's nomadic populations, often giving a voice to those outside the traditional political spotlight. Gender & Social Justice: Parul focuses on the intersection of law and gender, covering issues ranging from women’s safety and reproductive rights to the socio-economic empowerment of rural women. Environmental & Political Reporting: She tracks Rajasthan’s complex political landscape—including electoral shifts and bureaucratic changes—alongside critical environmental concerns like water scarcity and land use. Academic & Professional Pedigree: Her background as a lawyer, combined with her rise to the rank of Principal Correspondent at a national broadsheet, establishes her as a senior voice in the media landscape. ... Read More
Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More
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