'When Jairam hasn't given you the answer': BJP's fresh attack on Rahul Gandhi
As Rahul Gandhi's reply to a question regarding foreign policies drew criticism, Shashi Tharoor asked what was wrong in what he said.
A video of Rahul Gandhi answering a question on foreign policy during his many interactions in London has now come under the attack of the BJP. BJP national spokesperson Shezad Poonawalla said Rahul Gandhi was asked an out-of-syllabus question and Jairam Ramesh did not prepare him beforehand. Read | 'RSS man's daughter' Malini Mehra viral for asking Rahul Gandhi this question in London
At the Chatham House interaction in London, Rahul Gandhi was asked whether he would like to introduce any change to India's foreign policy. Jawahar Lal Nehru's Non-Aligned Movement was cited as an example along with the question. "The principle of foreign policy is unfortunately self-interest and any Indian government would pay attention to that. In answering the question, the first step is what is important to us as a country and what we are trying to do. We are a rural country and making a transition into an urban country. This transition has a huge amount of energy, potential for violence, potential for transformation...if you look at UPA policies, they were all about trying to manage this transition from rural to an urban-connected country. Our foreign policy would follow that," Rahul Gandhi said.
"We would like to build a society that is productive, that allows our people to have an imagination, to live happily, to be educated, to have a certain amount of healthcare. And our foreign policy would align with that," Rahul Gandhi added.
"When question is out of syllabus & Jairam hasn’t given you the answer in advance... But Rahul Gandhi’s sheer lack of depth & articulation to deal even with a simple question doesn’t surprise me.. Rahul hardly reads, hardly listens & hardly learns.. he pretends to read.. he pretends to listen.. he pretends to learn..," Shehzad wrote. "It takes only one simple question to expose that all of this is just a facade that has been built up by a very very expensive PR team," the BJP leader added.
As the video was shared widely, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor replied to a tweet and asked what was wrong with what Rahul Gandhi said. "That foreign policy must serve national self-interest; our overriding priority is the domestic transformation the nation is undergoing, so our foreign policy should support that. That's essentially one of my own arguments in "Pax Indica"," Shashi Tharoor said.
Rahul Gandhi's UK tour where he delivered a lecture at Cambridge University, spoke at UK Parliament apart from several other interactions has remained at the centre of controversies -- one after another -- as BJP leaders criticised many of the statements that he delivered on foreign soil. Rahul Gandhi criticised PM Modi and said he destroyed the Indian architecture of democracy. On Jaishankar, Rahul Gandhi said the foreign minister does not comprehend the China threat. In another statement, he likened the RSS to the Muslim Brotherhood.
