Congress leader Rahul Gandhi giving a talk at Cambridge Judge Business School as a Visiting Fellow on Thursday. | Photo Credit: ANI
The Congress on Saturday strongly pushed back against the BJP’s claims that Rahul Gandhi praised China and criticized India while speaking at Cambridge University. They even played old clips of Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising China, pointing out that Mr. Modi himself has brought up Indian politics on foreign soil multiple times.
Speaking at a press briefing, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, who also manages their social media wing, accused the BJP of using the 2019 Pulwama terror attack for political gain.
She said the ruling party’s attacks on Mr. Gandhi come either “from ignorance or from completely contrived politics”.
Ms. Shrinate added that as a key opposition figure, Mr. Gandhi has always stood up for ordinary people and highlighted issues affecting them. She noted that his speech was actually about India’s place in the world and celebrated the foundation of Indian democracy.
Indian democracy under attack, Opposition leaders being spied on: Rahul Gandhi at Cambridge University
‘A flag-bearer’
“He is carrying forward the values our country was built on. When he mentions Mahatma Gandhi and our Constitution’s principles, he brings pride to India. I don’t get why there’s so much fuss but the BJP’s opposition is either just ignorance or totally made-up politics – neither belongs in a democracy,” she said.
The Congress spokesperson also claimed some parts of the media joined in a “coordinated effort” to twist Mr. Gandhi’s words about Pulwama and China.
Responding to some TV channels claiming Mr. Gandhi called the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing just a terror attack, Ms. Shrinate asked, “How can anyone say that? He showed a photo and said ‘This is me putting flowers on the spot where almost 40 soldiers were killed by a car bomb’… After Pulwama happened, we canceled all our events but Prime Minister Modi kept filming ‘Man versus Wild’ with Bear Grylls and Home Minister Amit Shah carried on holding rallies.”
Published – March 04, 2023 10:08 pm IST
