’With freedom comes responsibility’, Hardeep Puri slams Rahul Gandhi over democracy remark, demands apology

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri slammed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks on India's democracy during his London visit.

While addressing a a press conference, Puri said, "If any individual goes outside the country he has the freedom to speak but along with that freedom comes what I call the need to have a sense of responsibility. We are the world's oldest democracy but Mr Gandhi goes to UK and says Indian democracy is facing an attack on the basic structure."

Gandhi, in his remarks at Cambridge University in the UK, had said that everybody knows and it's been in the news a lot that Indian democracy "is under pressure and under attack".

"I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space," Rahul Gandhi had said at Cambridge university in the UK. The institutional framework which is required for a democratic Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy," he had said.

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His remarks triggered a massive political row, with the BJP accusing him of maligning India on foreign soil and seeking foreign interventions and the Congress hitting back, citing instances of Prime Minister Modi raising internal politics abroad.

The Housing and Urban Affairs minister demanded that the Congress leader unequivocally apologise for his remarks to bring the issue to a closure.

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“He (Rahul Gandhi) should apologise categorically, unequivocally. He also said the core of BJP ideology is cowardice. I don't know what he is trying to say. Today India is the 5th largest economy and soon we will be 4th largest economy”

The minister also hit back at the Congress, reminding them that it was under the Indira Gandhi regime that civil liberties were curbed.

He said, “Rahul Gandhi hails China's Belt and Road Initiative as a visionary step. Does he know that China's BRI goes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir?... His grandmother invoked Article 356, 150 times to suspend and dismiss legitimately elected state governments.”

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The acrimony continued to play out outside the Parliament with leaders from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress targeting each other over Rahul Gandhi's remarks and the Adani issue. Minutes after the proceedings started in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Monday, both the houses were adjourned till 2 pm after Opposition MPs raised slogans demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry into the Adani stocks issue.

On Friday too, the proceedings in the two Houses of Parliament were disrupted for the fifth day as the ruling BJP and the opposition parties sought to vociferously raise their issues.

Yesterday, Gandhi clarified his his position in a meeting of the parliamentary advisory committee chaired by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) S Jaishankar regarding India's chairmanship of the G20 in the national capital. During the meeting, there was also some disagreement between BJP leaders and Gandhi. When BJP MPs mentioned Rahul's name, he immediately responded, stating that he had not said anything against the country.

Gandhi further stated that he had criticised an individual in his speech at Cambridge and not the government. Rahul said that he had spoken about a businessman and that the government did not defend his allegations. The Congress clarified that they would always stand in support of India's interests and would not speak against the country.

(With inputs from agencies)