Call us what you want, Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on the opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A. on Tuesday, saying, “call us what you want,” but “we are India” and “will rebuild the idea of India in Manipur.”

Modi had criticized the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or I.N.D.I.A., as the most aimless the country has ever seen, and highlighted hated names such as the East India Company and the Indian Mujahideen to argue that people cannot be fooled simply by the use of the country’s name.

According to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, the prime minister addressed a BJP Parliamentary Party gathering that the opposition has been acting as if it had decided to stay in opposition for a long time.

Ramesh Bidhuri, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claimed the prime minister said even those seeking to divide the country had names like East India Company and Indian Mujahideen, but people will not be mislead by these gimmicks.

According to former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Modi informed BJP leaders that the Indian National Congress and the East India Company were founded by foreigners.

People were also using names like Indian Mujahideen and Popular Front of India, he continued, and their realities were completely different from what they were attempting to represent. Modi’s comments prompted a major verbal brawl between Opposition and BJP leaders.

“We will rebuild the idea of India in Manipur,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also reacted to Modi’s remark, urging him to make a “comprehensive” speech on the violence in Manipur in both houses of Parliament.

Kharge stated that the prime minister must give a detailed address in Parliament after 83 days of unrelenting violence in Manipur. “Stories of absolute horror are now slowly trickling down. INDIA demands answers from the Modi Government on Manipur violence,” he said on Twitter.

Kharge stated that it was past time for Modi to shed his “ego” and reassure the country about Manipur.

“We demand a statement to be made by the prime minister in the House on the burning and emotive issue of Manipur which is adversely affecting the Indian democratic polity followed by a detailed and comprehensive discussion,” Kharge said in his notice while pointing out that violence continues even after two months in the northeastern state.