New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has once again landed in a major controversy after he raised India’s internal issues with foreign experts.
In an online interview with former US Secretary of State and Harvard Professor Nicholas Burns, Gandhi shared his views on many issues including India’s foreign policy, domestic politics, Electronic Voting Machines, tension between Indian and China and the peasants' movement. The Congress leader also questioned why the US, which has so much trust in democracy, is silent on the matter of India.
Rahul Gandhi’s comments have once again stirred a hornet’s nest in Indian polity.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) including many others have questioned Rahul’s intent. Political pundits are of the view that Rahul should have refrained from making such statements with the international guests. BJP has called Rahul’s statements a "sign of political immaturity", despite being in active politics for nearly 17 years.
Reacting to the Congress leader interview with Nicholas Burns, BJP leaders launched a scathing attack on the Congress party. Some of the leaders of the saffron party have even compared Gandhi with his party colleague Mani Shankar Aiyar and even went on to ask whether he will "complain to the US" when the Congress party loses in West Bengal.
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BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Aggarwal, while talking to ETV Bharat, said that Gandhi never associated himself with Indian politics because he never became a grassroot activist. "He did not work and that is the reason why he cannot understand the politics of India. He is not able to connect himself with Indian politics," Aggarwal said.
"On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done 23 rallies so far and will be addressing 10 more rallies in the next week. He meets the public, talks, keeps his vision, but Rahul, apart from keeping focus only in Kerala, does not partner with the public in any state. Instead of speaking on public issues, he discusses issues like democracy, constitution, the tension on the border with Nicholas Burn," he said.
Aggarwal further opined that Rahul Gandhi should think strongly about whether he has given a democratic atmosphere to his leaders in his party. BJP national spokesperson also said the Congress has no full-time president today.
"Sonia Gandhi is working as the acting president. No one other than the members of the Gandhi family has been able to become the president of the party so far. In such a situation whatever Rahul wants to say on global platforms has no relevance. These are mere words. It is necessary to connect with the public in Indian politics. He wants to do politics in the spirit of political tourism. It will not be helpful in taking him forward at all,"
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Senior journalist and political analyst Shekhar Iyer also spoke to ETV Bharat in this regard. On the questions raised by Gandhi in his interview with Nicholas Burn, Iyer said that the Rahul is expressing his sorrow over US President Joe Biden's silence over the issues raised by him.
"The Congress was expecting that since there was a good relationship between former US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Biden would take note of affairs in India after his defeat," Iyer said.
"Rahul thought also felt the pressure from the US will be more effective. However, he is unable to understand the why the US is not taking note of the issues raised by him."
"In such a situation, does Rahul want foreign intervention in internal matters of India, which is a democratic country and where democracy has been for many decades?," he asked.
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"If we look at the issue by keeping the US in the position from which Rahul Gandhi is speaking, whosoever be the US President he or she will first think of the interest of his country, about his trade policy, foreign policy and so on. He will talk with another country in the interest of his country, his security, his strategy; he will think first about his China policy, but it is unfortunate that our opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, who have spent 17 years in politics, are giving such immature statements. Even Indira Gandhi would not have accepted such a thing today. He said that Indira Gandhi also never accepted the intervention of America and she strongly opposed it. That is the reason why America’s interference in our affairs is minimal. It is so because today India is strong. That’s why we believe that Rahul Gandhi should not give such immature statements," Iyer said further.
