Congress president Rahul Gandhi might have preached about the “politics of love” in the past but his party leaders seem to be in no mood to pay heed to his words. On Sunday, a video emerged in which Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit is heard saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was an “agent of foreign companies.”
Dikshit, who is also the son of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, criticised Prime Minister Modi over his recent speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the Prime Minister presented India’s success story to the world and asserted that India would become a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
In the video, Dikshit said, “You have become an agent of foreign companies and are trying to sell India into the hands of these foreigners. It’s shameful that you are doing this and what you have done in Davos.” His comment came just a day before the Parliament session is to be convened.
Reacting to this, BJP leader Amit Malviya condemned Dikshit’s remarks and advised Congress to be a more “constructive opposition”. He said, “The Congress and its leaders continue to demean the country and the Prime Minister. We must not even respond to something like this. Sandeep Dikshit is no ordinary leader. Cong must try and be a constructive opposition.”
This is not the first time that Dikshit’s comments have sparked a controversy. In July 2017, Dikshit had landed in trouble after he compared Army chief general Bipin Rawat to a “sadak ka goonda” or a “street thug”. He had said, “Pakistan can only do one thing, create nuisance & then start giving lectures. It feels bad when our Army Chief responds like a street thug. Why behave like Pakistan, they have always been like that. They are like mafia. But why is our Army Chief behaving like that?” His comments prompted BJP to demand an apology from him even as his own party distanced itself from his remarks.
Earlier, : Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi has ticked off party colleague Sandeep Dikshit for likening Army chief General Bipin Rawat to a “goon on the street”, a remark for which he later apologised but for which the BJP demanded an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi said Dikshit’s remark, was “absolutely wrong.” Rahul Gandhi said the Indian Army works for the country and there was no need for any political leader to make comments against the Army chief.
“Someone from the press told me today that a Congress leader has made comments about the Army chief. This is absolutely wrong,” he said, addressing a Kar nataka Pradesh Congress Committee meeting in Bengaluru.
“People should not make any comments against the Army chief. I want to make it clear that the Indian Army works for us, it protects India. There is no need for any political leader to make comments against the Army chief,” he said.
Dikshit, an ex-Lok Sabha MP from East Delhi and son of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Diskhit, walked into a controversy when he said “ours is not a mafia Army like Pakistani army which makes statements like goons on the street. It looks bad when our Army chief gives a statement like a sadak ka goonda.”
His comment made to a TV channel followed General Rawat defending an Army officer who had strapped a civilian to the front of his jeep as a ‘human shield’ against stone-throwing protesters in the Kashmir Valley.
Following widespread criticism of his comment , Dikshit last evening tendered an apology when he said, “I believed that the Indian Army chief was making statements in the past few days that I believe does not behove the gentlemanly character of the Indian Army. It was a comment on the chief and not the Army… I think what I said was wrong so I apologise for it and withdraw my statements.”
Dikshit, a currently sidelined lightweight politician in Congress leadership who owes his importance for being the son of former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, is known for making regular comments on available TV channels and social media more as a way of keeping afloat politically.
