Indian democracy is a global good and its collapse would have an impact on the world, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told journalists at the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday, even while reiterating that he considers it an internal battle. “It is our job to fight the battle for democracy in India,” he said.
During the nearly hour-long interaction, Mr. Gandhi fielded wide-ranging questions, from India’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and its face-off with China to the BJP’s “politics of hate” and the effort to build a united Opposition before the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Also read | PM Modi among those who think they know more than God, Rahul Gandhi says at event in the U.S.
Mr. Gandhi asserted that a united Opposition would defeat the BJP on its own. At a separate event, a dinner hosted by prominent Indian-American Frank Islam, the Congress leader also said that the BJP would be decimated in the next three or four Assembly elections.
Asked about the impact of the forthcoming State visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States, which starts on June 22, the Congress leader said, “Let the Prime Minister come here and let the visit take place. I don’t to want to prejudge this. But I do think that the relationship between India and the US is very very important”.
When asked about the Congress’ position with regard to India’s relationship with Russia, Mr. Gandhi made it clear that his party’s position would be very similar to the BJP.
On the international community’s role in preventing a slide into authoritarianism in India, he said, ”It’s our job, it’s our business, and it’s our work to fight the battle for democracy in India. And it’s something that we understand, we accept, and we do.”
He went on to add: “But the thing to remember is that Indian democracy is a global public good. Because India is large enough that a collapse in democracy in India will affect...will have an impact on the world. So that is for you to think about how much you have to value Indian democracy. But for us, it’s an internal matter, and it’s a fight that we are committed to, and we are going to, we are going to win.”
To a question on how the Congress can counter BJP’s propaganda going into the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, the former Congress chief admitted that his party had been struggling before, but insisted that the Bharat Jodo Yatra had completely changed the narrative. He claimed that the BJP had done everything to see that the yatra did not succeed. “I think all this propaganda succeeds if you don’t go to the people. If you go to the people, it doesn’t work. I resonated with the people, even the BJP people. Some days back, I met a BJP spokesperson and she told me that ‘you are doing a very powerful thing’,” he said.
On his recent disqualification as an MP, he said that it came days after he criticised the Adani group, but reiterated that it was in fact like a “gift” to him to serve the people.
The interaction led to sparring between the Congress and the BJP, as the ruling party claimed that Mr. Gandhi had described the Muslim League of M.A. Jinnah as ‘secular’. The Congress hit back by accusing the BJP of peddling fake news, pointing out that their leader’s comment was in fact about the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), their ally in Kerala.
At the dinner meet hosted by Mr. Islam, Mr. Gandhi said, “You will see that the next three or four elections that we fight directly with the BJP, [it] will be decimated... Please realise that 60% of India does not vote for the BJP, does not vote for Narendra Modi. The BJP has the instruments of noise in their hand, so they can shout, they can scream, they can distort, they can yell, and they are much better at doing that. But they do not have the vast majority of the Indian population [supporting them]”.
