‘Just because you are not bright, does not mean India not bright spot’: BJP hits back at Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi's speech at Cambridge University earlier this week drew Bharatiya Janata Party's ire as the party has accused the Congress leader of speaking "against" India in a foreign country and depicting a negative image of the country.

"While the whole world is using good words to describe India and encouraging it, its main opposition leader, on foreign soil is claiming that the country has been destroyed and democracy is no longer there while the judiciary and the media are in bad shape," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said while addressing a press conference here.

Referring to Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's remark on PM Narendra Modi, Patra slammed Gandhi for his remarks at a time when India was hosting the G20, with world leaders recognising the leadership of PM Modi.

He further said that it is being said that if someone can defuse the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it is only PM Modi."In a big university, he is telling people bad things about India. While even Pakistan no longer dares say these things about India on a global forum, Gandhi is presenting India as a place where democracy no longer exists and the judiciary has been compromised," Patra added.

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BJP leader also accused Rahul Gandhi of dissuading investors from investing in India at a time when the world is seeing the country as a "bright spot" and foreign firms are leaving China to do business here.

"Today, all the foreign companies from all over the world want to come to India and invest, even they are leaving China and coming to our country. This has happened for the first time in 70 years and Rahul Gandhi went to Britain's big university and asked them not to come to India. He said there that if the investors will have any issue here in the country, the judiciary will not listen to you because it has been compromised," Patra hit out at the Wayanad MP.

Coming down heavily on Congress former president, Patra said, "Just because you are not a bright kid of your dynastic party doesn't mean India is not a bright spot."During a lecture 'Learning to Listen in the 21st century' at Cambridge University, Rahul Gandhi alleged that an attack has been unleashed on the basic structure of Indian democracy while also claiming that Israeli spyware Pegasus was being used to snoop into his phone.

Congress leader and ex-advisor to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sam Pitroda shared the YouTube link of Rahul Gandhi's address to MBA students at Cambridge Judge Business School on the topic of 'Learning to Listen in the 21st Century', on Twitter.

Rahul claimed that he had been warned by the intelligence officers to be "careful" while speaking on the phone as his calls were being recorded.

"I myself had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by intelligence officers who told me, 'Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff. So this is the constant pressure that we feel.

Cases on the Opposition. I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases. That's what we are trying to defend," the Congress leader said in his address.

While commenting on his Pegasus claim, Patra asked, "Why didn't you give your phone for investigation when Supreme Court's inquiry committee asked you to do so? "During his lecture, Gandhi listed five key aspects of the alleged attack on Indian democracy - capture and control of media and judiciary; surveillance and intimidation; coercion by federal law enforcement agencies; attacks on minorities, and Dalits and tribals.

Speaking about India's democracy, Gandhi said, "Indian democracy is under attack and is under pressure. I am an Opposition leader in India and we are navigating that space. What is happening is that the institutional framework which is required for a democracy -- Parliament, a free press, the judiciary; these are all getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy."