Rahul Gandhi in California: Congress Leader Cannot Digest 'PM Modi is The Boss', Says BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday lambasted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for “Insulting” India on “foreign soil” by “mocking” the installation of ‘Sengol’ (sceptre) in the new Parliament. Gandhi, who is on a six-day visit to the US, while addressing the Indian diaspora in San Francisco, took a swipe at the BJP-led Central government and said the inauguration of Sengol in the new Parliament was “drama” executed to “divert people” from the real issues.

Coming down heavily on the Congress Scion, Union Minister Anurag Thakur claimed Rahul Gandhi “insults” India during his foreign visits as he cannot digest “PM Modi is the Boss.”

“During his foreign visits, Rahul Gandhi insults India. PM Modi met almost 24 PMs and Presidents of the world and held over 50 meetings during his foreign visit recently and when the Australian PM said that ‘PM Modi is the Boss’, Rahul Gandhi could not digest this,” Thakur told news agency ANI.

Slamming Gandhi, BJP spokesperson Shezad Poonawala said the Gandhi family relegated the Sengol to a walking stick of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

“Rahul Gandhi’s family relegated the pious Sengol to a walking stick of Nehru. Now the entitled dynast Rahul mocks (Tamil culture in particular ) Indian culture on foreign soil after attacking Indian institutions by making the most distasteful comments on Sengol installation & the respect paid by PM Modi to it ( Dandvat Pranam was also mocked by Rahul as “lying down” – Rahul perhaps cares little for the Indian way of showing respect.. ),” Poonawala tweeted.

He also took the opportunity to corner the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu for boycotting the new inaugural ceremony of new Parliament and said, “No less than the DMK govt document spoke of Sengol history and relevance but those who love symbols of Gulaami cannot digest this.. in their hatred for BJP they attack Bharatiya symbols, way of life itself !! Does the DMK agree with Rahul on the Sengol installation being called a drama?”

BJP’s Tamil Nadu Chief K Annamalai also criticised the Congress leader’s remark and said to discuss real issues, Rahul Gandhi has to be in the country, “if not often, at least once in a while.”

“You got Jallikattu banned, and now you mock the rituals for the Sceptre done by Saiva Adheenams from TN. What your party cast away as a walking stick is today reinstated to its rightful place, Thiru Rahul Gandhi,” he said in a tweet.

What Rahul Gandhi Said

Gandhi has taken a swipe at the ruling BJP government, saying it is “threatening” the people and “misusing” the country’s agencies as he addressed a gathering of the Indian diaspora in US.

Speaking at an event in Santa Clara, California on Tuesday, Gandhi said the BJP and the RSS are controlling all the instruments of politics in India.

He said before starting his Bharat Jodo Yatra’, he realised that the normal tools that have historically been used in politics were not working anymore. “The BJP is threatening people and misusing government agencies. The Bharat Jodo Yatra started because all the instruments that we needed to connect with the people were controlled by the BJP-RSS,” he said.

“We were also finding that in some way, it had become quite difficult to act politically. And that’s why we decided to walk from the southernmost tip of India to Srinagar,” he said. Gandhi said the yatra carried the spirit of affection, respect and humility.

“If one studies history, it can be seen that all spiritual leaders including Guru Nanak Dev ji, Guru Basavanna ji, Narayana Guru ji united the nation in a similar way,” he said. Gandhi said India is not what is being shown in the media which likes to promote a political narrative that is far from reality, asserting that there is a “huge distortion”.

“It was very clear to me in the Yatra that it’s in the media’s interest to project these things, it helps the BJP. So, don’t think that everything you see in the media is the truth,” he said. “India is not what the media shows. The media likes to show a particular narrative. It likes to promote a political narrative that is actually not what is going on in India,” he said.

He said that there are people in India who think they know more than God and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “one such specimen”.

Speaking at the ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’ event organised by Indian Overseas Congress USA in Santa Clara in the US state of California on Tuesday, Gandhi said these people are “absolutely convinced” that they know everything and can explain history to historians, science to scientists and warfare to the army.

“The world is too big and complicated for any person to know everything. That is the disease…There is a group of people in India who are absolutely convinced they know everything. They think they know even more than God.

“They can sit with God and explain to him what’s going on. And of course, our prime minister is one such specimen. If you sat Modiji with God, he will explain to God how the universe works and God will get confused about what have I created,” he said, evoking peals of laughter from hundreds of his Indian American supporters.

“They think they can explain history to historians, science to scientists and warfare to the army. But at the core of it is mediocrity. They’re not ready to listen!” he said.

Gandhi also said, “The new parliament house is nothing but a distraction and the installation of the Sengol was just a drama to divert people. BJP can’t really discuss the real issues of the country– like unemployment, price rise, and crumbling education system.”

(With inputs from agencies)