"India Is Isolated Outside, Fighting Inside": Rahul Gandhi To Centre

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a fiery speech in parliament today, targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the "idea of a king is back", and accused the BJP of weakening India. 

There are now two distinct Indias, he said, one of the rich and the other of the poor. "The gap between the two is growing," he said in the Lok Sabha.

"You keep talking about Make in India, Make in India. Make in India is not possible anymore. You have destroyed 'Made in India'. You need to support small and medium industries, otherwise 'Make in India' is not possible. Small and medium industries are the only ones who can create jobs. You keep talking about Made in India, New India, Start-Up India, etc. And joblessness is only increasing."

The Congress MP tore into the government over unemployment and said it was because of "your flawed vision that two Indias are being created."

Mr Gandhi also accused the ruling BJP of bringing back the idea of a "king of India".

"You will never ever in your life rule over the people of Tamil Nadu. No matter what fantasies you have, you will never ever rule over the people of a state of India," he said as he illustrated his point on cooperative federalism, "conversation and negotiation".

"That is the only way India has been ruled. You can look at Ashoka, Maurya, the country has always been ruled by conversation and negotiation," he said.

"My great grandfather was jailed for 15 years while he was building this thing. My grandmother was shot 32 times. My father was blown to bits. So I understand a little bit about what this country is. You are fiddling with something very, very dangerous. I am advising you to stop. Because if you don't stop you will create a problem. The problem has already started in the Northeast, in Tamil Nadu - it's not visible to you right now - Jammu and Kashmir," Mr Gandhi said.

It demonstrated "a complete lack of understanding of history", he said, calling it a clash between the idea of a Union of States versus the idea of a king.

"We smashed that idea of a king in 1947. Now the idea of a king has come back. A king, a shahenshah. A ruler of rulers, a master of masters..."

Mr Gandhi once again alleged that only a handful of industrialists are benefiting because of the BJP government. "One person gets every port in India, every airport, tower, transmission, mining, green energy, gas distribution, edible oil. Everywhere there is (Gautam) Adani ji. The entire wealth of the country is going to a chosen few."

The BJP and its ideological mentor RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) are weakening the foundations of the country, said the Congress MP.

"Ask yourself why you are not able to get a guest on Republic Day. We are completely isolated and surrounded... You have brought Pakistan and China together and this is the single biggest crime you could have committed against the people of India," he said.

"The nation is at risk from outside, the nation is at risk from inside. That is a very dangerous place and I am very uncomfortable with my nation standing where it is standing - completely isolated on the outside, fighting on the inside, institutions captured, states not able to speak to each other. This worries me."

The BJP attacked Rahul Gandhi over the speech, accusing him of making a "directionless, confused speech" without any understanding of India's history.

"He is a confused leader. He should know the history before commenting on China. He is talking about PM Modi as a king -- he himself got a chance in politics because he is from the Gandhi family. Modi earned his place by working hard," said Union Minister Prahlad Joshi.