'Publicly demonstrate apology': Union ministers attack Rahul Gandhi

The BJP has accused him of seeking intervention of foreign powers in India by portraying the state of democracy in the country in a poor light

The BJP continued its offensive against Rahul Gandhi yet another day, fielding a host of central ministers to take him on. At the Parliament, union ministers Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi asked the Congress leader to demonstrate regret, while union law minister Kiren Rijiju said that if Congress agrees with Gandhi’s “insult” of the nation, then they don’t have the right to be in the Parliament. Senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Gandhi is a “novice”.

The BJP has contended that in his interactions during a tour of the United Kingdom, Gandhi “insulted” the country and invoked the help of foreign powers to solve a domestic political issue. The stalemate between the BJP, which has sought an apology from Gandhi, and the Opposition parties, which have accused the BJP of avoiding a conversation in the Lok Sabha on the Adani issue by thwarting their attempts of a JPC, has seen proceedings at the Lok Sabha being washed out four days in a row.

Also read | Didn’t say anything anti-India, says Rahul Gandhi amid row over his UK remarks

On Thursday, the BJP fielded some of its key leaders to continue the attack on Gandhi, who landed at the Parliament for the first day after his UK tour. Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said that Gandhi’s insult to India was “grave”. “Political differences may be there but there cannot be a graver crime than to seek interference from foreign powers. Anger prevails across the country for the grave insult Rahul Gandhi has inflicted upon what even the world acknowledges as the mother of democracy,” Joshi told reporters.

Union minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Piyush Goyal told reporters that Gandhi’s conduct did not show that he had any regret over the matter or that he had an intention to publicly apologise for the remarks.

Rijiju said that Congress was insulting the country because it has lost election after election. “If the Congress party feels that insulting our nation is not a serious matter, then it doesn't deserve to be representing a section of the people in the Parliament. Whatever Gandhi speaks, he harms his own party, but we have no interest in Congress’s internal matters. But if he tries to harm the nation, we will not remain silent,” Rijiju said.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP and former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Gandhi was a novice when it comes to India’s foreign policy and strategic security. “Rahul has made it a habit to derail Indian democracy, criticise it and demean it,” Prasad said.