Congress MP from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi has now made news for for statements delivered at Cambridge University, at a convention organised by association of Journalists in London and finally during an in-conversation session at the Chatham House think tank in London. Rounding off his week-long UK tour, Gandhi touched upon democracy in India, Pegasus row, China threat and staying true to his identity as the Opposition leader since 2014, the BJP rule in India.
Congress MP from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi has now made news for for statements delivered at Cambridge University, at a convention organised by association of Journalists in London and finally during an in-conversation session at the Chatham House think tank in London. Rounding off his week-long UK tour, Gandhi touched upon democracy in India, Pegasus row, China threat and staying true to his identity as the Opposition leader since 2014, the BJP rule in India.
Several of his statements made starting from Cambridge to Chatham House has caused stir and led BJP to ask his mother and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to 'control her son'.
Rahul Gandhi during his speech in the British parliament had said, "Demonetisation, which was a disastrous financial decision, we were not allowed to discuss. GST we were not allowed to discuss. Chinese troops entering Indian territory we were not allowed to discuss. I remember a Parliament where there were vibrant discussions, heated debates, arguments, and disagreements but we had a conversation. And, that's frankly what we miss in Parliament. We have to use debates to fit in other debates. There is a stifling that is going on".
Here are the list of statements made by Rahul Gandhi in the past couple of week.
British Parliament
Rahul Gandhi at the British parliament said, "Our mikes are not out of order, they are functioning, but you still can't switch them on. That's happened to me a number of times while I am speaking,".
BJP Rule in India
The BJP likes to believe that it will be in power in India "eternally" but that is not the case, and the Opposition can unite to undertake the "repair work" needed to protect India's democratic institutions, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said.
"To put it in perspective, if you look at the time from independence to now, the Congress party has been in power for majority of the time," said Gandhi.
"Before the BJP was in power for 10 years, we were in power for 10 years. The BJP likes to believe that they have come to power in India and they are going to be in power eternally, that's not the case," he said.
"We can see that the reliance on our institutions is reducing and that to me is very, very dangerous. Certainly there is repair work that needs to be done, on the idea of freedom, independent institutions, a whole bunch of repair work that needs to be done."
Pegasus Row
"I had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by intelligence officers who told me, 'Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff'. So this is the constant pressure that we feel. Cases on the opposition. I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases. That's what we are trying to defend," the Congress leader had said in his address at Cambridge.
RSS built along the lines of Muslim Brotherhood
Gandhi took aim at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a "fundamentalist, fascist organisation" that has changed the nature of the democratic contest in India by capturing the country's institutions.
Asked to explain the RSS to a foreign audience, he noted, "You can call it a secret society. It's built along the lines of the Muslim Brotherhood and the idea is to use the democratic contest to come to power and then subvert the democratic contest afterwards.
"It's shocked me at how successful they've been at capturing the different institutions of our country: the press, judiciary, Parliament, Election Commission – all the institutions are under pressure, under threat and controlled in one way or another."
Terrorism in India
Rahul Gandhi narrated his encounter with terrorists when the Gandhi led Bharat Jodo yatra entered Jammu and Kashmir.
Rahul Gandhi said, "I talked to my people and told them that I wanted to continue the walk. We continued walking when an unknown man approached me. He told me he wanted to talk to me."
Moments later, the man pointed towards some nearby people and revealed they were all terrorists, Rahul Gandhi said.
"I thought I was in trouble because in that situation terrorists would kill me. But they did not do anything because this is the power of listening," Rahul Gandhi said.
India's Foreign Policy
Rahul Gandhi drew a comparison between the Russia-Ukraine conflict and India-China relations and accused China of sitting on 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory but "our Prime Minister says they are not there".
Gandhi said, "With regards to an invasion, we have already been invaded. We have got 2000 square km of our territory that is in the hands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Prime Minister himself has stated that nobody has entered India, not a single inch of land has been taken and this destroyed our negotiation position because our negotiators are being asked what's the fuss about."
"Your Prime Minister says that no land has been taken. So that's one aspect of it. The other aspect which I keep saying is India needs to be very, very careful with what the Chinese are doing at the border. The Chinese are acting in a hostile manner, in an aggressive manner and we need to be very very careful and I have been stating that again and again, I don't think the penny has dropped in the government. I think there is a risk as you say," added Rahul Gandhi.