Rahul Gandhi’s irresponsible observations

Our responsible leaders uttering irresponsible inanities can be ascertained from Rahul Gandhi’s observation that the Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s repeated visits to the United States of America were to urge the authorities there for inviting the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Donald Trump’s presidential swearing in ceremony. Not only did the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju raise objection in the Lok Sabha to Rahul Gandhi’s observation but the Foreign Minister himself came down heavily on the remark as he said that such utterances tarnished the image of the country. He also said that such comments could be political in nature but they hurt the interests of the country abroad. However, it is doubtful if such protests would have any positive effect on Rahul or that he would avoid taking recourse to such false statements. The reason for this doubt is that he does not give any weightage to Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister.  He casts unsavoury aspersions when referring to the Prime Minister. The irony is that Rahul has been unable to mend his ways even after being made the Leader of the Opposition. The problem is not only that he does not care about the dignity of the Prime Minister’s position; the problem is also that Rahul Gandhi resorts to such childish statements that have adverse effect on national interests.

When Rahul Gandhi had brought up the issue of middlemen in the Rafale deal with France, he had said that the French President had himself told him that there was no such understanding between the two countries that prohibited the stating of the price of Rafale aircrafts. The French government had to rebut Rahul’s lie. Similarly, Rahul Gandhi, without informing the foreign ministry, met the Chinese Ambassador at the Chinese Embassy during the Doklam faceoff. When this incident became public, first the Congress came up with an unpalatable explanation and later stated that Rahul had met the Chinese Ambassador to learn about the reason for the Doklam dispute. Neither can it be overlooked that when Article 370 was lifted from Jammu and Kashmir, Rahul Gandhi’s uncalled for criticism against the government was openly used by Pakistan for its own advantage. Even now, he gives greater importance to the Chinese contention on the border dispute and does not accept the Indian government’s statement. Rahul Gandhi may go hammer and tongs at the government on home issues but he should steer clear away from such baseless and concocted statements that ridicule the Prime Minister’s post.

From the Editorial Desk