New Delhi, Oct 6 (IANS) Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday accused the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, of “spewing venom against the nation” during his foreign visits, urging him to refrain from making negative remarks against India while holding one of the highest constitutional posts in the country.

Rijiju’s remarks came in the wake of Gandhi’s visit to South America, where the LoP criticised the Modi government, saying that the “biggest threat facing India today is a systematic attack on its democratic foundations”.

In an interview with IANS, Rijiju compared Rahul Gandhi’s conduct with that of former Leaders of Opposition and senior political figures from both the Congress as well as BJP and rued his ‘shameful’ conduct on foreign soil.

“Our country has seen many Leaders of Opposition from both Congress and the BJP. Congress has produced many prominent leaders, and from our side too, we had great leaders like L.K. Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sushma Swaraj, Jaswant Singh, and Arun Jaitley, but no one made such statements when abroad,” Rijiju said.

Recalling a past incident involving Gandhi’s grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rijiju added, “When Indira Gandhi lost the election, a foreign journalist asked her what she wanted to say about the actions taken against her by the government. Indira Gandhi replied that she would not speak about her country or its government while abroad — she would only do so after returning to India. However, Rahul goes to foreign nations and spews venom against the country. I am saddened by this.”

The Union Minister stressed that when Gandhi travels abroad, he represents the Indian Parliament and should therefore act responsibly.

“Rahul Gandhi keeps secretly travelling abroad again and again; I have no personal concern with that, nor am I interested. But as the Leader of Opposition, when he delivers speeches abroad, we listen carefully because he represents Parliament,” he said.

“When our Leader of Opposition speaks negatively about the country, against Indian democracy and the Indian system, no one can ever like it. He (Rahul Gandhi) says that India cannot provide global leadership; how can he say that? It’s not right,” Rijiju said.

Expressing concern over the global perception of Gandhi’s remarks, Rijiju added, “The concern is that people might start thinking that India has leaders like Rahul Gandhi, though such thinking represents only a small minority. People here in India know that Rahul Gandhi is not representing the thinking of a large number of the population, but how would people in Colombia know this? They might start thinking that the entire of India thinks like him. Rahul should speak sensibly. I have serious concerns over his statements.”

–IANS

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