Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], August 4 : Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday strongly criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the Indian Army after a clash between the Indian and Chinese armies in the Yangsi region of Arunachal Pradesh in 2022.
He welcomed the Supreme Court's criticism of Rahul Gandhi after a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih in the Supreme Court expressed disapproval of Gandhi's remarks, saying, "How does he know the Chinese occupied 2000 square kilometres of land?" adding that a true Indian wouldn't say such a thing.
Rahul Gandhi allegedly claimed that China had captured 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory. Chandrasekhar welcomed the Supreme Court's criticism of Gandhi, saying that the court's observations align with the views of most Indians.
The Supreme Court's criticism of Gandhi's remarks came during a hearing on a defamation case related to his comments on the India-China border clash. The court questioned how Gandhi knew about the alleged occupation of 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory by China and suggested that a "true Indian" wouldn't make such statements.
Chandrasekhar accused Gandhi of practising politics based on lies, stating that he "lies through his teeth" and attempts to mislead people. He drew parallels between Gandhi's tactics and those of Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of Hitler, who believed that repeated lies would eventually be believed by the public.
Chandrasekhar highlighted that while the Indian Constitution grants freedom of speech, it also imposes reasonable restrictions, including prohibitions on lying, defamation, and provocation.
"I don't think there's anybody in this country who will disagree with what the Supreme Court has said. Rahul Gandhi has for many years been practising a politics that is based on lying. He lies through his teeth, and he hopes that the lies will somehow mislead people, will provoke people...Rahul Gandhi is obviously following the footsteps of Goebbels, the propaganda minister of Hitler. He believed that if he lied often enough, people would start to believe him. Accepting, he forgets that under Indian law and under the Indian Constitution, while there is 1912 which gives everybody the right to exercise freedom of speech, it also places reasonable restrictions under 192, which is that you cannot lie, you cannot defame, you cannot provoke people, you cannot create enmity between communities, which is the only thing Rahul Gandhi does," Chandrasekhar told ANI.
He challenged Gandhi and the Congress party to provide a single instance between 2014 and 2025 where Gandhi's statements proved to be true, accusing him of spreading lies and untruths to mislead Indians.
"There is, I challenge you today, and I challenge the Congress to tell me one thing that Rahul Gandhi has said between 2014 and 2025 that has proved to be true. In last 11 years, he has said so many lies, so many untruths, all to basically mislead Indians," Chandrasekhar told ANI.
Chandrasekhar claimed that Gandhi's actions and statements are detrimental to India's interests, questioning his loyalty and suggesting that he might be more aligned with foreign interests.
"Unfortunately for Rahul Gandhi, Indians do not believe him. Not only are Indians not believing him, but the courts are also taking cognisance of how a man who is now the leader of the opposition can. Act like somebody who's being paid by foreign interests to talk against India and the Indian army.... It is so brazen that his lying has reached a level where even if it is dismantled in 24 hours, the man will move on from that lie to a new lie.... It's amazing that this man is in Indian politics. Sometimes I wonder whether he's in Indian politics, or is he a Chinese politician, or is he a Pakistani politician," said Chandrasekhar.
"The man who's happiest when there is some bad news or some bad statement about India by a foreign leader is Rahul Gandhi. During the Doklam and Galwan incidents, he rushed to the Chinese ambassador's house for lunch and a briefing by the Chinese ambassador, rather than from the government of India or the Indian army. He would rather believe s country that is hostile towards India and their representatives and speak on their behalf rather than speak for what is good in India and what Indians are celebrating," he further stated.
Bringing attention to the Congress leader's support for US President Donald Trump's statement on India being a 'dead economy', Chandrasekhar mocked Rahul Gandhi and stated that he had a 'screw' loose in him.
"Now the 'dead economy' statement just shows you not only is this man working against Indian interests, but he's also got a screw loose somewhere in him...."
He also accused the Congress party of compromising the integrity of India's electoral rolls by allowing illegal immigrants to obtain false identities during their tenure from 2010 to 2014.
"Look, I think if anybody should be held accountable for contaminating the electoral rolls of our country, allowing brazenly illegal immigrants to get false identities and get into the electoral rolls, and therefore compromise our democracy, it is the Congress party. And I'll tell you why: from 2010, during the UPA, until 2014, they allowed a completely compromised Aadhaar, with no verification required for people to enter the electoral rolls. Over 60 crore people were enrolled on the Aadhaar before Narendra Modi became prime minister. And those 60 crore people who got enrolled, a large portion of them were enrolled without verification," he added.
"If there is a political party in this country that is accountable for and answerable to the people for compromising Indian democracy, not just through emergency and other things but by compromising the integrity of the electoral rolls, it is the Congress party and they should answer why they did what they did between 2010 and 2014," he added.