'Call us whatever you want Mr Modi. We will...': Rahul Gandhi hits back at Modi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a sharp retort hours after the latter cited terror outfit Indian Mujahideen and the Popular Front of India (PFI) to launch a scathing attack on INDIA alliance.

Taking to Twitter, Rahul said the Opposition front will “help heal Manipur” and “rebuild the idea of India” in the northeastern state. “Call us whatever you want, Mr Modi. We are INDIA. We will help heal Manipur and wipe the tears of every woman and child. We will bring back love and peace for all her people. We will rebuild the idea of India in Manipur,” he tweeted.

Also read: PM Modi cites names of East India Company, PFI to hit back at Opposition alliance

‘PM must speak on Manipur’

Meanwhile, speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said while “we are talking about Manipur, which is burning”, the prime minister is “talking about East India (Company) and saying INDIA means East India (Company)”.

Call us whatever you want, Mr. Modi.

We are INDIA.

We will help heal Manipur and wipe the tears of every woman and child. We will bring back love and peace for all her people.

We will rebuild the idea of India in Manipur.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 25, 2023

Later, in a tweet in Hindi, Kharge said, “While we are talking about Manipur, the prime minister, outside the House, is calling INDIA as East India Company. The Congress party has always been with Mother India i.e. Bharat Mata.”

“The slaves of the British were the political ancestors of the BJP. Prime Minister Modi, stop diverting the country’s attention with your rhetoric. Narendra Modiji, speak about Manipur in Parliament, do not belittle the dignity of the prime minister’s post by calling INDIA, that is Bharat, good or bad,” the Congress president said.

Modi rattled, says Kharge

In a video released by the Congress, Kharge said, “Why is he (Modi) rattled by the name of our alliance INDIA, if he thinks there is nothing in a name? This means that with the Opposition meetings being held successfully in Patna and in Bengaluru, they (BJP) are getting rattled and scared. They are saying all this in their fear and recalling East India Company and Indian Mujahideen.”

.@narendramodi जी,

आपको North East पर Act EAST Policy नहीं दिख रही, पर आपको EAST India Company दिख रही है !

इस INDIA ने ही अंग्रेज़ों की East India Company को हराया था।

इस INDIA ने ही Indian Mujahideen को भी हराया था।

आप मणिपुर में हो रही बर्बरता व भयावह हिंसा पर संसद में कब… pic.twitter.com/BKN9IlsMZ4

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 25, 2023

“They are aligned with the ideology that helped the East India Company and the British. They did not participate in the Quit India movement and the freedom movement. And the people of the ideology that killed (Mahatma) Gandhiji are telling us that we are directionless. We are not directionless, we show the way. Prime Minister Modi has become directionless,” he added.

Kharge urged Modi to speak on Manipur and said that is why “we have called for a debate under Rule 267, in which voting can also take place”. “What is happening in Manipur cannot be compared with Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh or any other state. Those are incidents in which quick action can be taken by the state governments. In Manipur, the entire state is burning…. And now, Meghalaya and Mizoram have also started to burn,” the Congress chief said.

Also read: INDIA coalition looking at sending delegation of CMs, MPs to Manipur

‘Uphold dignity of your post’

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also lashed out at the prime minister and asked why was there so much of negativity. “Due to politics, you have adopted a negative and derogatory attitude towards INDIA. Repeatedly associating negative connotations with the name of the country is not fair to the dignity of your post,” she said.

प्रधानमंत्री जी इतनी नकारात्मकता क्यों?

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A)के मूल में संविधान की भावना है। देश के युवाओं को रोजगार, जनता को महँगाई से राहत, हर तबके की खुशहाली, किसानों-श्रमिकों की भलाई, महिलाओं को सुरक्षा व सहायता, देश में एकता, प्रेम व…

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) July 25, 2023

Slamming Modi, the Congresss media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said in a tweet in Hindi: “Modiji, you have become so blind in opposing the Congress that you have started hating India itself. I heard that today in frustration you attacked India itself.”

Earlier, Modi slammed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as the most directionless the country has ever seen and cited reviled names, such as East India Company and Indian Mujahideen, to assert that people cannot be misled merely by the use of the country’s name.

(With agency inputs)