New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his “attack on democracy” in India remarks at a seminar in Colombia, accusing him of making baseless claims about the country to “degrade” its stature on foreign soil.
It also flayed Gandhi over his remarks that “the British could kill our freedom fighters but our freedom fighters would not act violently against them”, and accused him of insulting the country’s “martyrs”, citing the names of Mangal Pandey, Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, and other revolutionaries.
The BJP alleged that Gandhi keeps making comments “against India” out of his “desperation” to gain power, and advised the Congress leader to understand that his party will suffer more losses in elections if he continues to “insult” the country.
“So I am very optimistic about India. But at the same time, there are also fault lines within the Indian structure. There are risks that India has to overcome,” he said at the seminar when asked for his views about India.
Asked to elaborate on the risks that he sees, the Congress leader said, “The single biggest risk is the attack on democracy, which is taking place in India. Because India has multiple religions, multiple traditions, and multiple languages. And India actually is a conversation between all its people.” “And, different traditions, different religions, and different ideas require space. And that the best method for creating that space is the democratic system. And, currently, there is a wholesale attack on the democratic system in India. So that’s the risk,” he said.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha further said the other big risk is that between different conceptions in different parts of the country.
“Some 16-17 different languages, different religions. So, allowing these different traditions to thrive, giving them space to express themselves, is very important for a country like India. We can’t do what China does, which is suppress people and run an authoritarian system,” Gandhi said.
“Our design will just not accept that,” he asserted.
Reacting to Gandhi’s remarks, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad asserted that there is “complete” democracy in India and people of the country are free. He condemned the Congress leader for “shamefully insulting” the country with his remarks in Colombia.
“Rahul Gandhi says all sorts of baseless and shameless things against India in India, and when he goes abroad, he says there is no freedom of speech in India,” the former Union minister told reporters here.
Flaying the Congress leader, Prasad further said, “You level a barrage of false accusations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, roaming all over India. So, democracy has given you the right to abuse people in India. And, you’re saying there’s no democracy here.” Prasad alleged that Gandhi keeps speaking against India because his party’s support base is shrinking and he is desperate to gain power.
“The problem with Rahul Gandhi is that they (Congress) don’t get votes. He wants power,” he said.
“If you insult India going abroad, then people will not make you win even those seats that you have got. You must know this,” the senior BJP leader added.
Reacting sharply in a post on X, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “Rahul Gandhi does it again, degrades India on foreign soil. From defaming our democracy in London, to mocking our institutions in the US, now in Colombia, he spares no chance to insult Bharat globally.” “This isn’t dissent. It’s a disgrace to the fake Gandhi,” he charged.
“You lost power. Don’t lose patriotism. Criticising the BJP may be your right, but dare you malign Mother India for your cheap and petty politics?” the BJP spokesperson added.
BJP MP Kangana Ranaut hit out at Gandhi over his remarks, calling him a “disgrace”.
“He keeps on condemning and criticising the country… That’s why I call him a disgrace. He always embarrasses the country, and the country is also embarrassed by him,” the BJP leader told reporters on the sidelines of an event here when asked for her reaction.
Slamming Gandhi, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya called the Congress leader a “dangerous and delusional person”, and said he does not deserve to be the Leader of Opposition.
“Once again, Rahul Gandhi goes abroad and runs down Indian democracy and its people, just because they have rejected him more than ninety times. In the run-up to 2024, the same man rushed to the world and sought the intervention of foreign agencies in Indian elections,” Malviya said on X.
“Such a dangerous and delusional person, who has no faith in Indians, doesn’t deserve to be the Leader of the Opposition,” the BJP leader charged.
