Rijiju Calls Rahul Gandhi First Opposition Leader to Criticize India Abroad Congress Terms Attacks Misguided

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intensified its criticism of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi following his remarks made in Colombia, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accusing him of being the first opposition leader to speak against India while abroad. Rijiju invoked Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, stating that even she refrained from criticizing the government during her travels as a leader of the opposition.

Rijiju told ANI, "Show me one Leader of Opposition who has ever gone outside India and made statements against the country or the government. Rahul Gandhi is the first." His remarks came after Rahul Gandhi, during his trip to Colombia, expressed concerns about an ongoing "attack on democracy" in India, which he identified as a major risk to the country. Rahul also acknowledged India's strengths in engineering and healthcare but highlighted structural flaws that need correction.

In response, the Congress party condemned the BJP’s repeated attacks on Rahul Gandhi as a "misdirected tactic." Party organisational secretary KC Venugopal accused the ruling party of blaming the opposition for its own failures that bring international embarrassment. He emphasized that whether Rahul speaks in Colombia or Kanpur, the reality remains that the government has failed to harness India’s economic potential and is harming the demographic dividend.

Venugopal further stated, "Our democratic system being hijacked is a matter that has brought us disrepute across the world, courtesy the BJP itself. It is a stale, hackneyed and misdirected tactic by the BJP ecosystem to attack Rahul ji for speaking plainly."

The row highlights the intensifying political discourse over democracy and governance ahead of upcoming elections.