Overview

• On Monday, Kiren Rijiju told ANI he is worried by the Leader of Opposition’s “constant India-shaming and India-bashing” during overseas visits.
• The minister reiterated that Rahul Gandhi is the first Leader of Opposition to speak against the country abroad, citing Indira Gandhi’s example to counter such criticism.
• Rahul Gandhi’s EIA University talk in Colombia mixed optimism about India’s engineering and healthcare strengths with a warning of an “attack on democracy.”
• Gandhi also criticised demonetisation as a failure and alleged centralised corruption and concentration of economic power under the current government.
• BJP figures, including Kangana Ranaut, Pradeep Bhandari and Gaurav Bhatia, condemned his remarks as defaming India, while Congress’s KC Venugopal called the attacks a misdirected tactic.