Press briefing becomes new flashpoint amid PM's foreign tour, Congress slams Modi with Rahul Gandhi's list of 129

New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday released a list of 129 press meets addressed by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi since September 2013, seeking to corner Narendra Modi for not holding any press conference while in power after a Norwegian journalist raised questions over the Prime Minister not responding to media during his visit there.

Oslo-based journalist Helle Lyng's posts on ‘X’ had triggered questions over Modi not addressing the media during his Norway visit, prompting Rahul to first tweet on Monday night, “when there is nothing to hide, there is nothing to fear. What happens to India’s image when the world sees a compromised PM panic and run from a few questions?”

On Tuesday, Rahul referred to Norway's sovereign wealth fund dropping Adani Green Energy from its portfolio and asked, “We get very good information these days. Modi-ji, did Norway agree to your personal request to remove Adani from their pension fund black list?” Following Rahul’s post, Lyng on ‘X’ sought a telephone interview with Rahul on Tuesday.

As social media users posted about Modi not holding press conferences, Congress released the list of Rahul's press meets from 27 September, 2013 -- the controversial one in which Rahul rubbished the then UPA government's ordinance that sought to protect convicted lawmakers' seats in legislatures.

The Congress list showed that Rahul held three press conferences in 2013 followed by one each media conference between 2014 and 2017. He held 13 press conferences in 2018, 21 in 2019, 14 in 2020 and 16 in 2021.

In 2022 when he went on Bharat Jodo Yatra, he held 11 press conferences, including nine during the yatra, and 20, including five during yatra, in 2023. In 2024, Rahul addressed 20 press conferences followed by seven in 2025.

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya sought to rebut Lyng and claimed that the Norwegian Prime Minister also did not take any questions at the joint press briefing.

"But the lunatic Congress ecosystem led by Rahul Gandhi is crowing over a delinquent journalist’s incoherent rant. One wonders if, like the journalist in question, the Congress leadership is also on the take of those who do not want to see a strong and powerful India," he said.

Lyng responded to Malviya saying, "He (Norwegian PM) did, but only to the Norwegian press at first. He met the Indian press later that day."

Earlier, she posted a video of her asking Modi to respond to questions after the joint briefing.

"Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question, I was not expecting him to. Norway has the number one spot on the World Press Freedom Index, India is at 157th, competing with Palestine, Emirates and Cuba. It is our job to question the powers we cooperate with," she said.

The Indian Embassy in Norway later invited her to a press briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs in a hotel in Oslo, which she attended.

After the briefing, she posted, "My colleague and I asked questions tonight both on why we should trust India given the human violations rights, and also about the visit. I tried multiple times to get them to be specific on human rights, but I was unsuccessful. The representatives talked about India’s effort during Covid and also yoga, among other things."