Structures of India's democracy under 'brutal attack': Rahul Gandhi

Stepping up his attack on the BJP government Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the structures of Indian democracy are under brutal attack and there is a fullscale assault on the institutions of the countryThe Opposition leader who is in London as part of a UK tour told reporters that there are conversations ongoing within the Opposition to unite around an alternative vision for the country and act upon an undercurrent of anger over pressing issues such as unemployment price rise the concentration of wealth and violence against womenThe 52yearold former Congress president referred to the income tax departments recent survey action against the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai as an example of the suppression of voice across the country a motivating factor behind his Bharat Jodo Yatra which he described as an expression of voice against the ruling BJPs attempt to silence the countryThe reason the yatra became necessary is because the structures of our democracy are under brutal attack Gandhi told reporters at an India Insights event organised by the Indian Journalists Association IJA on Saturday eveningThe media the institutional frameworks judiciary Parliament is all under attack and we were finding it very difficult to put the voice of the people through the normal channels he allegedAlso Read BJPs attack on Rahuls Cambridge remarks stems from either ignorance or contrived politics CongressThe BBC has found out about it now but it has been going on in India for the last nine years nonstop Everybody knows that journalists are intimidated they are attacked and threatened The journalists who toe the line of the government are rewarded So its part of a pattern and I wouldnt expect anything different If the BBC stops writing against the government everything will go back to normal All the cases will disappear he notedGandhi expressed regret that democratic parts of the world including the US and Europe have failed to notice that a large chunk of democracy has come undoneThe BJP wants India to be silent They want it to be quiet because they want to be able to take what is Indias and give it to their close friends Thats the idea to distract the population and then hand over Indias wealth to three four five people he saidGandhis earlier comments at Cambridge University that Indian democracy is under attack and several politicians including himself are under surveillance invited sharp reactions from the BJP that accused him of maligning the countrys image on foreign soil after facing successive electoral setbacksWe can understand his hatred towards the Prime Minister but the conspiracy to malign the country on foreign soil with the help of foreign friends raises questions on the agenda of the Congress Anurag Thakur the Information and Broadcasting minister told reporters in Delhi on FridayThakur said Gandhi was aware of the electoral rout the Congress was facing in the assembly elections and had resorted to levelling allegations from foreign soilOnce again the Congress lost in the elections but their bankruptcy was evident when they lost no opportunity to malign India from foreign soil Thakur saidAsked about the Congress and Opposition plans for the next general election Gandhi on Saturday said the battle at the polls is not just between political parties but also against institutions as there is no level playing field in Indian politicsThere are conversations going on between the Opposition parties I am aware of many of them The basic idea that the RSS and the BJP need to be fought and defeated is deeply entrenched in the minds of the Opposition Theres no question about that he saidThere are tactical issues that require discussions but its important to understand that the Opposition in India is no longer fighting a political party Were fighting the institutional structure of India now the BJP and RSS which have captured almost all of Indias institutions So the idea of a level playing field doesnt exist because the institutions arent neutral he saidGandhi also hit back at the governments criticism that he had maligned the country on foreign soil during his lecture at Cambridge University earlier this week where he had first raised the issue of Indian democracy being under attackHe said I have never defamed my country Im not interested in it I will never do it The BJP like to twist what I sayiquest the fact of the matter is the person who defames India when he goes abroad is the Prime Minister of Indiaiquest saying there was a lost decade and nothing happened in the last 10 years iquest so what about all those people who worked in India who built India in those 10 years Is he not insulting them And hes doing it on foreign soilThe Congress MP added that there are billions of dollars behind a certain narrative being presented and pointed the finger at Gautam Adani the Adani Group Founder and ChairmanMr Adani seems to win every auction he takes part in Gandhi saidAsked about IndiaChina relations Gandhi said India needs to be very careful of hostile and aggressive moves by the Chinese at the border and reiterated his points from his Cambridge lecture about the need for global production to shift away from a coercive China to more democratic structuresGandhi is in London as part of a weeklong visit to the UK for a lecture as visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge and is scheduled to interact with the Indian diaspora on SundayHe is also being hosted at an event in the House of Commons complex on behalf of the UK Opposition Labour Party and will address the Chatham House thinktank in London on the RussiaUkraine conflict and wider geopolitical issues before concluding his visit to BritainThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the 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