‘Modern India cannot exist without constitution, democracy:’ Rahul Gandhi in US
Rahul Gandhi has criticised the country's leadership during a speech in New York. Speaking at the Indian Overseas Congress USA event, he accused PM Narendra Modi of dividing the country and failing to address issues including unemployment and education.
PremiumCongress leader Rahul Gandhi pressed criticism of the country’s leadership in a speech and called out Indians in the US and back home to stand up for democracy and the Indian constitution.
Gandhi sharply criticised PM Modi of dividing the country and failing to focus on important issues such as unemployment and education.
While addressing crowd of about 700 at the Indian Overseas Congress USA event at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan , he said, “To be nasty to people, to be arrogant, to be violent, these are not Indian values."
Gandhi is on a three-city tour of the United States, including speaking engagements at Stanford University in California and the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
“Modern India cannot exist without our constitution and our democracy," he said Sunday. He also urged a stronger partnership between India and the US to offset China's influence.
“One of the things we have to think about is the bridge between India and the United States," he said. “How do we compete with the challenge the Chinese have placed on the table," he asked, specifically citing issues of mobility and the world's energy supply.
During his address, Gandhi also argued that PM Modi, BJP and the RSS are incapable of looking into the future and can only talk about the past. He said, “He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is trying to drive the car...the Indian car and he looks in the rear-view mirror. Then he does not understand why this car is crashing, not moving forward. And it's the same idea with the BJP, with the RSS. All of them. You listen to the ministers, you listen to the prime minister. You will never find them talking about the future. They only talk about the past,"
Also Read: Rahul Gandhi breaks his silence on disqualification as MP: ‘First person to be handed criminal sentence for defamation’
Meanwhile, US congressional leaders have invited Modi to address a joint meeting of Congress later this month. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other leaders announced the address as an “opportunity to share your vision for India’s future and speak to the global challenges our countries both face."
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The Congress Party defeated the BJP in recent state elections in the Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka states, wins that came after a series of state elections defeats after Modi became India’s prime minister in 2014. Gandhi now holds no official position in his party. He gave up the post of party president after his severe defeats by Modi’s Hindu nationalist party in 2019 national elections, though his supporters hope the more recent results will impact the country’s 2024 national elections, which are likely to be held before May.
Gandhi suffered a serious setback in March when a court convicted him in a criminal defamation case for mocking Modi’s surname, a decision that led to him being expelled from parliament. He could lose his eligibility to run for a parliamentary seat for the next eight years if an appeals court doesn’t overturn his conviction. The conviction came in connection with a speech he gave in 2019.
Gandhi is travelling on a short-validity ordinary passport, following a no-objection certificate (NOC) from a Delhi court. The former Congress president had surrendered his diplomatic passport after his disqualification as a Member of Parliament in March following his conviction and two-year sentence by a Gujarat court in a defamation case over his Modi surname remark. The sentence has been suspended, pending appeal. The court on Friday granted the NOC to Gandhi for the issuance of an 'ordinary passport' for three years instead of 10.
(With inputs from agencies)
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