Rahul’s ‘Indian democracy’ remarks: Kharge refuses BJP's demand for apology

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said there was "no apology" for Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the UK and that those demanding it should answer how Prime Minister Narendra Modi "humiliated the people of the country" when he left. abroad.

The BJP and several senior ministers are demanding an apology from Gandhi for his remarks about "democracy under attack" in the UK. "I would like to ask a question to the people demanding an apology (from Rahul Gandhi) that (what about) when Modi ji went to five six countries and humiliated the people of our country and we were told that he was born in India is a sin," he said Kharge.

"Democracy is waning here, freedom of expression and speech is being weakened, TV channels are under pressure and people who speak the truth are being imprisoned, so if this is not the process of ending democracy, then what is?" the Congress president told reporters here. So there is no question of an apology, he added.

Gandhi's remarks during his recent trip to the UK rocked Parliament, with both houses failing to transact any significant business in the first two days of the second half budget session. During his interactions in the United Kingdom, Gandhi claimed that the structures of Indian democracy were under attack and that there was an "all-out assault" on the country's institutions. The former Congress president also told British MPs in London that microphones are often "turned off" in the Lok Sabha when an opposition member raises important questions.

Gandhi's remarks set off a political row, with the BJP accusing him of maligning India on foreign soil and seeking foreign intervention, and the Congress lashing out at the ruling party by citing instances of Prime Minister Modi elevating domestic politics abroad.