The Government and the BJP on Saturday took exception to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in London and came out with a strong counterattack.
“Yes, the Indian Foreign Service has changed. Yes, they follow the orders of the Government. Yes, they counter the arguments of others. No, it is not called arrogance. It is called confidence. And it is called defending national interest,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted with a 19-second video clip of Rahul Gandhi’s statement.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia launched a sharp attack on the Congress leader for his remarks at a conference in London where Gandhi accused the ruling party of spreading “kerosene all over the country, you need one spark and we will be in big trouble”.
It is the Congress that has been carrying kerosene oil to incite riots since the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the BJP spokesman alleged, dubbing Rahul Gandhi a “part-time, immature, unsuccessful leader of a hopeless Congress” who has often spoken negatively about the country in foreign places like the US, the UK and Singapore.
With the Government coming out with a strong attack on his IFS remarks, Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said “Yes, it is also called being subservient to the political masters in face of foreign policy bloopers. Yes, it is called not being able to stand up to China in face of illegal occupation of our territory. Yes, it is called furthering the agenda of a party rather than the nation”.
Bhatia said the Congress leader is a “part-time politician” and a “habitual offender” and he and his family is “working overtime to destroy India”.
The BJP leader said it seems that Rahul was speaking at a seminar titled “Ideas for destroying India” rather than “Ideas for India”.
“Whenever Rahul Gandhi goes abroad, he portrays a negative picture of India,” the spokesperson said.
Bhatia referred to the controversy over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s purported tweet where he quoted former PM Rajiv Gandhi’s remark “when a big tree falls, the ground shakes” in the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the subsequent anti-Sikh riots.
“This is the state of the party and a failed, part-time politician of the party talks about BJP sprinkling kerosene all over the country,” he asserted.
The BJP leader said it is the Congress which is “carrying kerosene since 1984 riots”.
On Rahul drawing a parallel between the Russia-Ukraine crisis and India-China face-off in Ladakh, the BJP spokesperson said, “Rahul Gandhi’s situation in politics is like someone who wants to appear in the PhD exam but does not like books and has not even passed nursery.”
“Rahul Gandhi does not even know the A, B, C, D of foreign affairs. But he comments non-stop. His comment comparing Ukraine’s situation with Ladakh proves that he is not aware of either India’s strength or foreign affairs,” the spokesperson said remembering the sacrifice of Galwan hero Colonel Santosh Babu.
Bhatia said it is Indian army that pushed back Chinese army that considers itself “most powerful”. “Rahul also said India’s situation is like Pakistan. We know that you are not fond of reading. But I warn you Rahul, do not compare India with terror-country Pakistan,” Bhatia said.
The BJP also countered the Congress leader by recalling the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi and gagging of media, the fourth pillar of democracy.