New Delhi: The controversy surrounding Rahul Gandhi's comments in the United Kingdom is refusing to die down with BJP accusing the Congress leaders of "insulting" India's democracy and being under the "influence of Maoist thought".
Former union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, in a briefing on Tuesday, criticized Rahul Gandhi's remarks about the government and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and said BJP believes that Gandhi was under the influence of "Maoist thought process through his minions" and "anarchist elements".
Prasad expressed his party's disapproval of Gandhi using the British Parliament to spread "shameful" lies and unfounded claims. Prasad called for a "proper rebuttal" and accused Gandhi of trying to shame India's democracy, polity, Parliament, judicial system, and strategic security. He further stated that if Gandhi is not supported by the people of India and keeps losing elections, he should not vent his frustration by spreading lies from a foreign country.
Prasad also questioned whether Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and his predecessor Sonia Gandhi support Rahul Gandhi's "utterly irresponsible" statements. Gandhi's comments in London about microphones in front of opposition members in Lok Sabha being silenced and opposition parties in India not being allowed to debate issues in Parliament were also criticized by Prasad, who claimed that Gandhi had forgotten parliamentary norms, political propriety, and "democratic shame" by criticizing Indians from abroad.
Prasad accused Gandhi of seeking foreign intervention in India's internal affairs and went on to criticize Gandhi's condemnation of the RSS, stating that the Hindutva organization has been serving society and the nation. The BJP leader predicted that the Congress would shrink further in 2024, while the RSS's influence had spread across the country.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi continued to slam the BJP in his ongoing UK trip. On Monday evening, Gandhi addressed an in-conversation session at the Chatham House think tank in London to round off his week-long UK tour. BJP, he said, likes to believe that it will be in power in India "eternally" but that is not the case, and the Opposition can unite to undertake the repair work needed to protect India's democratic institutions.
The Wayanad MP once again claimed that Israeli software Pegasus was planted on his phone as he accused the BJP of trying to silence dissent in the country. To put it in perspective, if you look at the time from independence to now, the Congress party has been in power for the majority of the time, said Gandhi. Before the BJP was in power for 10 years, we were in power for 10 years. The BJP likes to believe that they have come to power in India and they are going to be in power eternally, that's not the case, he said.
"We can see that the reliance on our institutions is reducing and that to me is very, very dangerous. Certainly, there is repair work that needs to be done, on the idea of freedom, independent institutions, a whole bunch of repair work that needs to be done."
Also read: At the heart of BJP's ideology is 'cowardice', Rahul Gandhi says in London
