Rahul Gandhi Declares That The “Habit Of Insulting India” Is Gone, The “Fear Of PM”

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tore into the BJP and its ideological parent RSS in public addresses in Dallas in the US. The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha spoke on wide-ranging issues in his interactions with students at the University of Texas and in an address to members of Indian diaspora.

The BJP has reacted sharply to the remarks, saying that Mr Gandhi has a habit of insulting India. Addressing the Indian diaspora, Mr Gandhi said the RSS believes India is one idea, while the Congress considers it a multiplicity of ideas. “That is the fight,” he said. Referring to the results of this Lok Sabha election, which denied the BJP a majority, Mr Gandhi said the “fear of BJP” vanished immediately after the poll results.

“Within minutes of the election result, nobody was scared of the BJP and the Prime Minister of India. These are huge achievements, not of Rahul Gandhi or Congress, but of the people of India who realised we are not going to accept an attack on the Constitution,” he said.

In his interaction with the students, Mr Gandhi was asked about the low female labour participation in India. In his reply, he pointed to a “bad attitude” Indian males have towards women.

“In a large number of Indian males, attitude towards women is ridiculous,” he said, adding that there is a need to change the mindset to think of women the same way we think of men. Mr Gandhi also said the attitude towards women is also part of the ideological fight between the BJP and the Opposition.

“BJP/RSS believe that women should be restricted to a particular role, they should stay at home, cook food, they should not talk too much, we believe women should be allowed to aspire to whatever they want to do,” he said. Mr Gandhi also spoke on unemployment in India and drew a comparison with China.

“The West has an employment problem. India has an employment problem… But many countries in the world don’t have an employment problem. China certainly doesn’t have an employment problem. Vietnam doesn’t have an employment problem. So there are places on the planet that are not struggling with unemployment.

There’s a reason. If you look at the United States in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, they were the center of global production. Anything that was made, cars, washing machines, TVs, all made in the United States. Production moved from the United States. It went to Korea, it went to Japan. Eventually, it went to China.

If you look today, China is dominating global production… So what has happened? The West, America, Europe, and India have given up on the idea of production and they’ve handed it to China. The act of production creates jobs. What we do, what the Americans do, what the West does, is we organise consumption,” he said.

Mr Gandhi’s remarks have drawn strong remarks from the BJP. The ruling party’s national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari told news agency ANI that Mr Gandhi is “eager to bat for China”. “Is it because of his MoU with the Communist Party of China that he always bats for China and does not bat for India?

Rahul does not stop here, he attacks the Indian legal system just because he is out on bail. He predicts social tension in India just because it is his strategy to divide and rule,” Mr Bhandari said. Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com “Sam Pitroda says that he is no longer the ‘Pappu’.

He has become very evil now because all his statements reflect falsehood against India, all his statements reflect a man who wants to divide society and a man who wants to bat for the Chinese. He insults the Hindu gods by saying that it does not mean God.

This is why the INDI Alliance is always against Sanatana,” he said. “The essence of Rahul’s speech is, it is against Bharat, against the women of India and it is everything that China or any other power want to further their agenda in India. This is why the people of India rejected Rahul Gandhi and Congress in 2014, 2019 and 2024. They will continue to reject it in 2029 and choose PM Narendra Modi,” he added.

Recently, Rahul Gandhi, one of the prime faces of the Indian National Congress, made an interesting statement that reverberated within the whole flow of India’s political atmosphere-the “habit of insulting India” has ended so has the “fear of the Prime Minister.”

The announcement comes at a juncture that is very important in Indian politics when the country faces a slew of socio-political issues and changing phases of leadership. Rahul Gandhi’s statement reflects a political discourse that has changed, but even more so, a sense of change sweeping the country.

Below is an in-depth analysis of what that means in the light of context, consequences, and reactions that follow upon Rahul Gandhi’s statement, and what it will mean for India’s future.

The statement from Rahul Gandhi, attempting to indicate a shift in the national mood during a public speech, was against the background of the present political climate under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

For years, opposition parties, including the Congress, have accused the BJP of creating an environment in which dissent and criticism are often deemed anti-national or unpatriotic. According to Rahul Gandhi, the notion of linking dissent with disdain for the nation is being challenged.

Gandhi’s remark about the “habit of insulting India” being abandoned is a direct response to the accusations leveled against opposition leaders and activists who criticize government policies. By claiming that this worldview is receding, he is implying that India is transitioning to a more open and accepting atmosphere in which critical voices are not immediately condemned.

What catches the attention most, however, is the second part of his statement: “.the fear of the Prime Minister taken away.” It basically meant that Prime Minister Modi was not that man anymore, an aura of invincibility commanding respect.

For years, Modi has basked in the glory of his strongman image-aggressive leadership style-for which he got all praise and criticism in equal measure. Rahul Gandhi’s statement, therefore, presumes that opposition and perhaps the people at large are starting to be more vocal against the government’s version of any story without fear of reprisal.

The speech by Rahul Gandhi has implications for Indian politics. It reflects another approach and confidence of the opposition in the run-up to the next general elections in the country. For quite a long time, besides other opposition parties, Congress has struggled and very often looked disorganized in its effort to counter the predominance that BJP has enjoyed in the country. It does reflect, however, the determination of the opposition in being able to put up a competition on equal terms with BJP.

A New Confidence Narrative: By claiming that fear of the Prime Minister has gone, Rahul Gandhi hopes to empower not just his party, but also the voter. For a Congress often accused of being outmaneuvered by the BJP’s intense campaign machinery, this is a confidence narrative crucial to hear.
The creation of such a fearless and empowered image is an effort by the Congress party to win hearts in order to emerge as an alternative to the current government.

Reclaiming National Pride: The idea that the “habit of insulting India” has been broken sets off the narrative of national pride. In fact, branding opposition as unpatriotic since time immemorial for raising questions over the activities of the government was nothing new.

The meaning of Rahul Gandhi’s reinterpretation is that patriotism implies that any criticism leveled against the government is no insult to the nation, but rather it is an essential constituent in healthy democracy. This will go a long way toward ensuring free discourse and less stigma on disagreement.

It will strengthen the Opposition Coalition: This statement has the potential to strengthen the opposition coalition. What becomes more ostensible, amidst the fear and suppression of dissent, is how Rahul Gandhi stakes out some firm positions in outreach to other opposition leaders and parties similarly concerned. A unified opposition that can stand with confidence up to the incumbent party can substantiate the manner in which features of politics change in the 2018 election.

The utterance by Rahul Gandhi has invited a mixed response from the political spectrum. Loyalists from the Congress and other opposition parties hailed this statement of his as the clarion call to be more aggressive and united in their opposition against the ruling dispensation.
Many have commended Gandhi for his courage and for enunciating something which they consider to be a growing public opinion.

Support from Civil Society and Intellectuals: A host of civil society representatives comprising intellectuals, activists, and journalists have supported the comment made by Gandhi.

According to them, the fear of criticizing the administration has been a problem in recent years, and any effort towards creating a more open and tolerant political climate must be welcomed. For these groups, quite essentially, what Gandhi had said was an affirmation of free expression and a negation of the climate of intimidation.

Predictably, the ruling party has denounced Rahul Gandhi’s statement as an effort to belittle the power of the Prime Minister and the government, and that he is removed from the realities of Indian politics. The BJP leadership has denied all these assertions by Gandhi on the ground that Government policies are in the interest of the country and as such criticism ought to be constructive rather than combative.

Reactions have mirrored the split that has come to characterize Indian politics, with some residents sharing Gandhi’s assessment that space for dissent has been shrinking. Other residents feel he said that as a bit of political hyperbole to help turn around fortunes for a flagging Congress party. The diversity of opinions underlines the complexity of the issues involved and the challenges of altering public perception.

This has evoked much interest from various quarters, but the beginning of Rahul Gandhi’s prime ministership aspirational comments is also fraught with several formidable challenges before himself and the Congress. First, it is a big task to convert words into action. Congress must now show it can mount a serious challenge to the BJP on the ground through policy proposals, effective campaigning, and coalition building beyond rhetoric.

Weaving a Credible narrative: One of the most consistent complaints against Congress in recent times is that it has badly missed telling an interesting and coherent story.

While Gandhi’s comment is a start in cleaning up the party’s act, much serious work needs to be done to convince the electorate that Congress can offer a feasible alternative to the BJP. This calls for the drawing of firm policy lines on critical subjects: economy, national security, and social welfare.

Restore Connect with the Electorate: This would be another major challenge in reconnecting with the electorate, particularly in those states where the Congress popularity graph has nosedived.

On this count, the challenge before Rahul Gandhi and his team is how to work towards the restoration of voter trust in the party, especially in those areas where the BJP has made serious inroads. That would require grassroots engagement, articulation of local issues, and demonstrated commitment to people-centered governance.

Countering the BJP Narrative: The BJP has been doing a very impressive job in engineering India’s political narrative, often playing to nationalism and development. For success to take place, the Congress will have to find a way of negating this narrative without antagonizing a stratum of potential supporters. It is a very delicate balance between criticizing government policies and offering a positive vision for India’s future.