Rahul in Colombia says ‘attack on democracy’ underway, BJP accuses him of insulting India abroad
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New Delhi/Envigado: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has alleged that India is facing a “wholesale attack” on its democratic system, remarks that drew sharp criticism from the BJP, which accused him of maligning the country on foreign soil.
Speaking to students at EIA University in Envigado, Colombia, Gandhi said India’s greatest strength lay in its diversity of religions, traditions and languages, which required space to flourish. “The single biggest risk is the attack on democracy that is taking place in India. Because India has multiple religions, multiple traditions, multiple languages, and India actually is a conversation between all its people,” he said.
He stressed that only democracy could provide the space for these traditions to coexist, adding, “currently, there is a wholesale attack on the democratic system in India.”
Gandhi contrasted India with China, saying, “We can’t do what China does, which is suppress people and run an authoritarian system. Our design will just not accept that.”
On India’s global role, he said he did not believe the country was “arrogant enough” to see itself as a world leader. “We are a large country, and we believe in having a partnership. And we do not, sorry, but we are not arrogant enough to believe that we should lead the world, right? Every country has its own perspective. Every region has its own perspective. And I think there is a lot of scope for working together and a lot of scope for partnership. But the idea that India is going to lead the world, I don’t think that is how India views itself,” he told the students.
He further alleged that corruption in India was now “very centralized,” with “three or four businesses basically taking over the whole economy,” through direct ties with the Prime Minister.
The remarks drew a swift response from the BJP, with senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accusing Gandhi of spreading baseless claims abroad. “Rahul Gandhi is abroad. It would have been nice if he had wished well, but he is attacking India. He says everything baseless. He says there is no democracy in India. There is complete democracy, but the problem with Rahul Gandhi is that he wants power,” Prasad told reporters in New Delhi.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also criticized him, saying, “Goes abroad and attacks Indian democracy! After all, he wants to fight the Indian state… Sometimes demands (that) US, UK should intervene in our affairs and now this.”
During the interaction, Gandhi also said India’s position between the US and China made it central to global power shifts, while noting that India’s decentralised system and cultural diversity gave it strengths different from China’s.
The Congress said Gandhi is on a four-nation tour of South America to engage with students, business leaders and political figures.