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Rahul Gandhi has set off a political storm with his remarks against PM Narendra Modi at a Berlin event. Speaking at the Hertie School in Germany's capital,
Rahul had said that PM Modi's vision for India would fail. Now, the BJP has hit back at the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, with party spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accusing Gandhi and the Congress of pushing a dangerous narrative of instability. "From Fighting Indian state, to threatening Anarchy. Rahul Gandhi's Congress with his ideological patron George Soros wants Chaos, Unrest in Indian Democracy. Rahul goes abroad for uniting such Anti India forces," Bhandari said in a post on X.
He added, "Congress hates Indian Democracy. Congress hates Bharat's progress. Rahul Gandhi's Congress wants Anarchy!"
Union Minister of State Shobha Karandjale also accused Gandhi of repeatedly criticising India during overseas visits.
"Rahul Gandhi is not the leader of opposition but an anti-India leader who goes abroad and speaks against the nation. What does he aim to gain by doing this? He still behaves like a child, not a leader," she said.
She further added, "There is no talk about development in Karnataka but only about who will remain as the CM."
The BJP's reaction came after Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling party of eroding democratic checks and balances. "There is a wholesale capture of our institutional framework. Our intelligence agencies, ED and CBI, have been weaponised. ED and CBI have zero cases against the BJP, and most of the political cases are against the people who oppose them," Rahul said.
He added, "There is an attack on the democratic system. We have to find ways to counter this. We will create a system of opposition resistance that will succeed. We are not fighting the BJP, but their capture of the Indian institutional structure."
Rahul Gandhi is on a five-day visit to Germany.
His remarks come days after he claimed that manufacturing in India was declining.
During a visit to the BMW World museum in Munich on December 17, he said, "Manufacturing is the backbone of strong economies. Sadly, in India, manufacturing is declining. For us to accelerate growth, we need to produce more - build meaningful manufacturing ecosystems, and create high-quality jobs at scale."
The BJP, however, dismissed the claim. Pradeep Bhandari called it "fake news" and cited official data to defend India's growth trajectory, claiming 495 per cent growth in electronics manufacturing over the last decade, 760 per cent growth in exports, and a 14-fold rise in automobile manufacturing since 1991.
