NEW DELHI: Even as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is on a four South American nations visit, he has drawn ire back at home for his comments and the Congress has hit back at the BJP by releasing the old videos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi maligning the image of the country on foreign soil.
The former Congress chief has drawn wrath of the BJP for his comments on ‘wholesale attack on Indian democracy’ and the job opportunities in India.
Backing Rahul over his comments made in Columbia, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal hit back at the BJP and said that it is the habit of the ruling party to blame grand old party for its own failures bringing India international shame. In a post on X, Venugopal teared into the BJP and said, “The BJP’s habit is to blame the Congress for its own failures bringing us international shame.”
Backing the Gandhi scion, the Congress leader said: “Whether it is said in Colombia or Kanpur, the reality remains the same – India’s government has failed to harness the vast potential of our economy and is undoing our demographic dividend.” Targeting the BJP, he said that “our democratic system being hijacked is a matter that has brought us disrepute across the world, courtesy the BJP itself”.
“It is a stale, hackneyed and misdirected tactic by the BJP ecosystem to attack Rahul ji for speaking plainly. It would serve them better if they paid close attention to his statements and acted to rectify the glaring flaws he has been highlighting since 2014,” Venugopal said.
Reminding BJP the words of Modi he said, “Let us not forget, before he became the PM and for many years after – Narendra Modi used his foreign visits to not only attack the Congress, but insulted India and its people. “It is therefore plain hypocrisy for the BJP to now question Rahul ji, for merely exposing the misrule, corruption and undemocratic character of the BJP,” he added.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Pawan Khera also slammed the Prime Minister as he brought out the old videos of Modi. Khera, who is also the member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC, party’s highest decision-making body) in multiple post on X shared the video of Modi and wrote, “Anti Congress or anti India?” Video included Modi’s speeches in China, South Korea, Australia, US, Qatar, Canada and United Kingdom.
In another post, Khera wrote the statement of Modi and said, “Man, Don’t know what kind of sin have committed in my past life… That I’m born in India. Is this any country, is this any government, are these any people. Anti-India, anti-government, anti-Indian.”
While speaking at the EIA University in Medellin, Colombia, Rahul Gandhi stated that India has a much more complex system as compared with China and India’s strengths are very different from that of the neighbouring country. He said that India also has a very old spiritual tradition and a thought system with profound ideas that are useful in today’s world, he said, adding that there is a lot that the country can offer in terms of tradition and the way of thinking.
He targeted the BJP, as he said, “Currently, there is a wholesale attack on the democratic system in India, so that is a risk. The other big risk is different conceptions — different religions, different languages. Allowing these different traditions to thrive, giving them space to express themselves, is very important for a country like India. We cannot do what China does, which is to suppress people and run an authoritarian system.”
BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi labelled Rahul as “flag-bearer of anti-India forces”, citing his latest remarks at a university in Colombia about the “wholesale attack on the democratic system” in India. He said that it is ironic that those who have been perpetuating monarchy under the guise of democracy for the past 100 years are now giving speeches on democracy.
“This particularly when Narendra Modi, who used to sell tea on a railway platform, has been elected by the people as the Prime Minister for a third consecutive term,” Trivedi said at a press conference on Friday. The BJP leader said Modi was the biggest symbol of democracy and a symbol of India’s democratic maturity and expansion.
Rahul has now reached Peru, where he was joined by Indian Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda. In Columbia, Rahul also met with President Senate Lidios Garcia. Pitroda in a post on X said, “Accompanied Rahul Gandhi and met Colombian Senate President Lidios Garcia. The launch of a Parliamentary Friendship Group with Peru will foster deeper political, diplomatic & commercial ties between our countries.”
