In pictures: Rahul Gandhi fires political missiles from US, BJP deploys leaders in counter-attack

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a four-day visit to the United States, said in his address to the Indian-American community that love, respect and humility are missing from Indian politics. His remarks, on issues like unemployment, women empowerment, and the RSS, led to a war of words with the BJP accusing him of tarnishing India’s image on foreign soil.

Let’s look at who said what as the political diatribe continues to escalate.

Love, respect and humility

Love, respect and humility are missing in Indian politics, Rahul Gandhi said in his address to the Indian American community in Texas. He also criticized the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for believing that India is “one idea”. “Very much like the United States, we believe everybody should be allowed to participate. We believe that everybody should be allowed to dream, (and) everybody should be given space, regardless of their caste, language, religion, tradition, history,” he said. Gandhi said his role was to inject values of love, respect and humility into Indian politics.

 Rahul, a black spot

 “..I feel sad to say that Rahul Gandhi is a black spot in Indian democracy. He does not even know what to talk about when he visits a foreign country,” BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said in reply to Rahul Gandhi’s charge.

 BJP MP Manoj Tiwari accused Gandhi of spreading lies about India, the RSS and Modi, and asked the Congress leader to fight “political battles” in the country, not abroad.

 “Have you ever heard George Bush, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton or Joe Biden speaking ill of America in some other country when they were in the opposition? They never said bad things about their own country,” Tiwari said in a statement.

 “But Rahul Gandhi can do this. He is doing this. Rahul Gandhi is lying without any knowledge of the country, the prime minister and the RSS. His frustration of staying away from power is not going away. This is often seen when someone is born in a royal family and loses power,” he added.

India’s unemployment problem

India, the US and other countries in the West are facing the problem of unemployment while China isn’t, as it is dominating global production, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said, underscoring the need to focus on manufacturing in India.

Gandhi said there is no shortage of skills in India and the country could compete with China if it aligns itself for production.

 “The West has an employment problem. India has an employment problem... But many countries in the world don’t have an employment problem. China certainly doesn’t have an employment problem. Vietnam doesn’t have an employment problem,” Gandhi said.

Rahul, desh ka dushman

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of promoting China and undermining India.

“Rahul Gandhi promotes China in various ways. Undermining India, he tries to project China as the best nation. But, there is no democracy and no religious freedom for people in China. But, Gandhi doesn’t talk about them,” Sarma told reporters at the Birsa Munda Airport here.

Another BJP spokesperson, Prem Shukla, said the way Gandhi condemns India and praises China on foreign soil proves that he is nothing but an “anti-India pawn thriving on Chinese donations”.

The rate of unemployment in China is more than 17 per cent but Gandhi says there is no unemployment in the neighbouring country, Shukla said.

BJP leader and Union textiles minister Giriraj Singh said: “Enemy countries China and Pakistan don’t need to have their brand ambassadors as Rahul, the leader of the Opposition, is working for them,” Singh said, calling him “desh ka dushman”.

 RSS-BJP anti-women The 54-year-old said he is a supporter of women’s participation in politics starting with the women’s reservation bill. Gandhi said women should be supported financially if they want to start a business and they should be treated equally to men.

“The BJP and the RSS believe that women should be restricted to a particular role. They should stay at home, they should cook the food, they should not talk too much and we believe that women should aspire to whatever they want to do,” the Congress leader said.

 Gandhi’s silence on RG Kar BJP spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, accused Gandhi of maintaining “selective silence” on the issue of atrocities against women and asked the Congress leader why has he kept quiet on a Kolkata medic’s alleged rape and killing as also on the expulsion of Kerala Congress leader Simi Rosebell John from the party after she alleged a casting-couch culture in the organisation.

“By the way, it was your (Gandhi’s) party MLA, Shivshankarappa (in Karnataka), who had said it is the women’s job to cook. One of your party MLAs, Shanti Dhariwal, had said rape happens (in Rajasthan) because it is a state of men. So you should talk about your own partymen and take action against them,” he told PTI.

RSS deems some religions, languages as inferior

Rahul Gandhi has accused the RSS of considering some religions, languages and communities to be inferior to others and said that the fight in India is about this and not about politics.

 “First of all, you have to understand what the fight is about. The fight is not about politics. That is superficial,” Gandhi said as he asked one of the Sikh attendees in the front rows to give his name. “What is your name, brother with the turban,” he asked a gathering of several hundred Indian Americans in Herndon, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, on Monday.

“The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to Gurdwara. That’s what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions,” said the Congress leader.

“Rahul is setting a dangerous narrative…Rahul needs to educate himself..Congress persecuted Sikhs,” said Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

Rahul has once again shown his “immaturity”

Asked to comment on the Congress leader’s remarks, Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said, “I am not interested in commenting on what Rahul Gandhi has said. He has developed the habit of talking against India, the BJP and the RSS when he goes abroad. He will never refrain from doing so.” “By doing so, he has shown his immaturity once again as always,” the Union parliamentary affairs minister told reporters.

On reservation

“We will think of scrapping reservations when India is a fair place. And India is not a fair place,” Gandhi told students at the university in response to a question on reservation and how long it would continue.

Gandhi made these remarks while talking to students at Georgetown University.

Rahul’s speech “anti-national”

“Rahul Gandhi is leader of opposition (in the Lok Sabha) and the LoP is answerable to the nation. Spoiling the country’s image abroad amounts to an anti-national act and no patriot indulges in such acts,” said Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Gandhi is frustrated after the Congress lost the Lok Sabha polls and is blurting out his frustration, claimed Chouhan.