New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Friday supported the Modi government’s stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict even as he reiterated his ‘democratic backsliding’ remark, first made at the UK’s Cambridge University this March and severely criticised by his political rivals.
Addressing a press conference in Belgium capital Brussels on the eve of the G20 Summit in Delhi, Rahul also criticised the government for not inviting Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge to the banquet to be hosted by the President of India for G20 delegates.
“There is a sense in India that democratic structures of our country… institutional structures of our country are under attack. They are under attack from a group of people who are running India,” he said. However, he added that “the fight for democracy in India is ours (Opposition)”.
“It is our responsibility and we will take care of it. We will make sure that the onslaught on our institutions…. on our freedom is stopped. The Opposition will make sure of that,” he said.
While New Delhi is set to host a flurry of world leaders over the weekend for the G20 Summit, the former Congress president is on a week-long tour of Europe where he will be meeting politicians and members of the Indian diaspora in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Norway.
Rahul had Thursday met several Members of the European Parliament in Brussels and talked about “the challenges that India is facing”, he said at the presser. According to Rahul, these challenges include a “general attack on democratic institutions”.
Responding to a separate question about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and India’s stand on the same, Rahul endorsed the Modi government’s position.
“The Opposition will by and large agree with India’s position on Russia,” he said. “We have a relationship with Russia. I don’t think the Opposition will have a different view than what the government is currently proposing.”
India has shunned the West’s calls to isolate Russia for its war on Ukraine and has instead been batting for dialogue and diplomacy as a way out.
‘Distraction tactics’
Rahul called G20 an “important conversation”, but criticised the Modi government for not inviting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for the dinner being hosted by the President on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
“They have decided not to invite the Leader of the Opposition. It tells you something. It tells you that they don’t value the leader of 60 percent of India’s population.”
The Congress MP from Wayanad also spoke about the controversy surrounding the speculation over a possible “name change” for India to Bharat.
“These are panic reactions. There is a sense of fear in the government,” he said, referring to the new Opposition alliance that has come together under the name ‘INDIA’. “These are distraction tactics. We of course came up with the name INDIA for our coalition. We consider ourselves the voice of India. But it obviously has disturbed the prime minister enough that he wants to change the name of the country. Which is absurd but that’s what it is.”
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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