It has become Rahul Gandhi's habit to insult India in foreign countries: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Patna (Bihar) [India], March 3 : Calling the remarks of Rahul Gandhi at Cambridge University "condemnable", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said it has become the Congress leader's "habit" to insult India in foreign countries.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi had alleged at Cambridge University that an attack has been unleashed on the basic structure of Indian democracy while also claiming that Israeli spyware Pegasus was being used to snoop into his phone.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, the former Union Minister Prasad said, "It has become Rahul Gandhi's habit to go to foreign countries and insult Indian people and institutions, and hurt the confidence of the country."
He said that after "failing miserably" in India, Rahul Gandhi is creating "havoc" in foreign countries.
"After failing to even open its account in Northeast, Rahul Gandhi goes to England, and is calling China a 'symbol of bonafide'. It is very disappointing. At a time when G20 meetings are taking place in the country, foreign ministers of different countries have come here, Italian PM is calling PM Modi the most popular leader in the world, Rahul Gandhi is making this kind of statements," Prasad said.
The BJP leader also attacked the Wayanad MP for "not criticising" the Pak-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir.
"Rahul Gandhi himself hoisted the tricolour in Kashmir recently. Today, he has not even once criticised the terror activities in Kashmir. He said that hundreds of people walked with him in Kashmir. But he is forgetting that this was possible only after Article 370 was abrogated by the BJP government," he said.
He further attacked the former Congress President for raising questions about the democratic process in India.
"It should be remembered that the very democratic process Rahul Gandhi is criticising, is the same process through which he was able to win from Wayanad after fleeing from the loss in Amethi. Not just him, his mother has also become MP with the same process. Recently, he made baseless allegations against the Prime Minister. Didn't he have the freedom to do so? Also, he was able to do that despite being on bail in a corruption case. Not just him, his mother and other family members are also out on bail for 'looting' the taxpayer's money," Prasad added.
He further said that the country should look at the "real image" of Rahul Gandhi.
"Rahul Gandhi goes to a foreign land, insults Indian people and institutions, praises China but remains silent on Pak-sponsored terrorism. We strongly condemn his ridiculous statements and believe that the Indians living abroad will never believe this. India is becoming an economic power under the leadership of PM Modi and the world is praising India's G20 leadership," he said.
Incidentally, Prasad's remarks have come after Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack at the Centre during a lecture at Cambridge University, alleging that an attack has been unleashed on the basic structure of Indian democracy while also claiming that Israeli spyware Pegasus was being used to snoop into his phone.
"I myself had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by intelligence officers who told me, 'Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff. So this is the constant pressure that we feel. Cases on the Opposition. I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases. That's what we are trying to defend," the Congress leader said in his address.
Rahul alleged further that constraints were being put on the Parliament, press and the Judiciary in the country.
"Everybody knows and it's been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy -- Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around -- all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy," the Congress MP alleged.
Sharing a picture of himself in the presentation slide in which he is seen being held by the police personnel, the Congress leader claimed that the Opposition leaders were "locked up" in jail for "just standing" in front of the Parliament House to talk about some issues, while also alleging that such incidents have happened "relatively violently".
"In the Constitution, India is described as a Union of States, and that Union requires negotiation and conversation. It is that negotiation that is under attack and threat. You can see the picture which is taken in front of Parliament House. The Opposition leaders were just standing there talking about certain issues, and we were put in jail. That's happened 3 or 4 times. It has happened relatively violently. You have also heard of the attacks on minorities and the press. You get a sense of what is going on," Rahul claimed.