"Rahul Gandhi's hatred for the Prime Minister is now hatred for the nation."
Union Minister Smriti Irani today hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said that he defamed the nation on foreign soil.
Addressing the press conference Ms Irani said, "Rahul Gandhi defamed the nation on foreign soil. He disrespected the institutions like SC and EC. Is humiliating India a democracy? Is disrespecting the chairman of the House a democracy? India demands an apology from Rahul Gandhi."
She also said that Rahul Gandhi not only attacked the magnificence of the Indian parliament but also disrespected the institutions like the Supreme Court and Election Commission that are known to every citizen of the country.
"I question Rahul Gandhi when the Gandhi family directs Congressmen and women to tear papers and through them at the speaker chair in the Lok Sabha...is that democracy? When the Gandhi family directs members to throw papers at the speaker chair..is that democracy?" she added.
"Today every Indian citizen demands an apology from the Indian parliament which is the voice of the Indian people, it is a constitutional reflection of the people. Instead of coming to Parliament and apologising for an undemocratic rant against India today, he seeks to be absent from Parliament," Ms Irani stated.
While asking a question from Congress leader Ms Irani said, "Rahul Gandhi claims that he does not have the access to conversations at Indian University, which for him was an indication of the death of democracy. If so, in 2016, when the slogan 'Bharat tere tukde honge' was raised at one of the universities in the national capital, you backed it, what was that?"
"Rahul Gandhi's hatred for the Prime Minister is now hatred for the nation. He invoked foreign powers by visiting a country whose history has been to enslave India. While tearing down India's democratic systems, he expressed regret that why foreign forces do not come and attack India," she added.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a lecture at Cambridge University in London recently, said, "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. 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."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)