Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 15: The BJP on Sunday lambasted the Congress for “enjoying” foreign political representatives “insulting India” and interfering into India’s internal domestic politics while the union home minister Amit Shah showered down some advises on the senior leader Rahul Gandhi to turn his attention to Indian villages instead of making frequent trips to foreign countries “if he really wants his party to come back to power.”
The BJP based its scathing attack on the principal opposition party on an Italian delegate raising and translation of a slogan at the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad in Congress-ruled Telangana on Saturday where he raised the oft-repeated slogan of ‘vote theft” levelled by Mr Gandhi against the ruling BJP and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Italian leader Giacomo Filibeck, secretary-general of the Party of European Socialists (PES), raised the Opposition’s slogan “Vote chor, gaddi chhod”, translating it to “Vote thief, leave your seat” — a line that Rahul Gandhi has been using to allege manipulation by the BJP-led government in collusion with the Election Commission. Rahul Gandhi was seen laughing as he did so. The Telangana government hosted the summit as a conclave of the Congress’s fraternal parties and progressive intellectuals from around the world.
Reacting, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju posted on X: “Have you ever seen anyone laughing when India is insulted by a foreigner? I’m not asking about which Indian goes abroad to insult India.”
Targeting Rahul Gandhi over his frequent trips abroad, Mr Shah at an event in Pune on Sunday issued an advice to the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha that the Congress would never be able to gain power in India by defaming the country on international platforms.
Shah said Gandhi keeps defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose leadership is being hailed by the entire world. However, this would never benefit him. “If you want power, stop your foreign trips and start visiting the villages of India; then perhaps your turn might come someday,” said Shah, while adding, “You certainly won’t listen, so I want to tell the Congress workers that if you keep following him in this direction, your turn will not come for 30 years.”
Over the Italian politician’s “vote chori” comment, Mr Shah said the Congress was venting the frustration of losing three consecutive Lok Sabha elections. Thus, it invited those propagate leftist ideology from across India and abroad at the event, he said. Shah said the event was named Bharat Summit but Gandhi keeps defaming the country across the world by expressing anti-India views at international conferences.
He said people must make Congress realise that winning or losing elections depend on the performance of a party’s leaders. “You were given a chance for 10 years, and you committed scams and corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore. The people of the country held you by the hand and threw you out of the government in Delhi, making Narendra Modi ji the Prime Minister. In 12 years, not even a single allegation of corruption worth even four annas has been levelled against Narendra Modi ji,” he said.
Union Minister of State for Home, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who is from Telangana, called the Hyderabad event an “Anti-Bharat Summit.” “Congress once tried to make an Italian national the Prime Minister of India. Now, at its Anti-Bharat Summit, an Italian political leader is commenting on India’s internal affairs!” he added.
Bandi Sanjay Kumar attacked the state government too. “Congress govt under [Chief Minister] Revanth Reddy gave foreign political representatives the stage to interfere in our domestic politics & Rahul Gandhi is shamelessly laughing,” he wrote. Telangana BJP chief N Ramchander Rao posted in Telugu: “Isn’t it treason to let foreign leaders mock our country’s democracy and proudly applaud their remarks?”
The Congress defended the slogan and the fact that a foreigner used it. “Those sitting on the throne of loot and corruption, particularly the Modi government and the BJP, have no right to speak about corruption,” Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said in Delhi. Asked about the slogan, he said: “If a foreigner comes and says this, there is a need for introspection.”
Congress spokesperson Girija Shetkar posted on X, “Was the slogan ‘Abki baar Trump sarkar’ not a comment on another country’s internal affairs?” referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2019 “Howdy Modi” event in Houston, where he backed Trump ahead of the presidential election in the US.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut made an Italy reference of his own while attacking PM Modi. “If Modi can offer Melody chocolates to the Italian Prime Minister, then an Italian politician can come here and speak about this country,” he said, referring to PM Modi giving Italian leader Giorgia Meloni a packet of Melody toffees during his visit to Rome in May.
At the summit, Filibeck praised the protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. “Students, young people, and Opposition parties have taken to the streets, demanding education reform and accountability for the millions of names that have been removed from the electoral rolls…. At the heart of that fight stands the Indian National Congress and the leadership of Rahul Gandhi,” he said, before ending with the “vote chori” slogan.
Rahul Gandhi opened his speech by mentioning that several foreign delegates were allegedly refused entry into India despite holding visas for the event. “I’d also like to apologise to many of the delegates and leaders who were scheduled to come but were not allowed to come by the Government of India,” he said. He repeated his “vote chori” allegation.