NEW DELHI: Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi over his critical comments against the BJP, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said while the Congress' existence is on "ventilator", the "idiocy" of its leaders is on "accelerator".
Speaking with reporters after addressing a Haj orientation programme here, the senior BJP leader alleged that the "Congress' craze to criticise" Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached the level of a "conspiracy to defame the country".
Slamming Gandhi for his recent comments on alleged spread of hatred and the BJP's ideology, the Minority Affairs Minister said that while the Congress' existence is on ventilator, "idiocy" of its leaders is on accelerator.
He claimed that the Congress is now not acceptable even in a "mohalla (locality)" due to its "negative feudal mindset". The Congress is not fighting a harmful ideology but is fighting with "harmful idiocy" of its own leaders, Naqvi said.
"Fixed in a family photo frame, the Congress has confined itself to becoming a fake kitty party," he alleged, adding that this has led to an "exodus" from the Congress.
The Congress leaders defame India in a foreign country, Naqvi said, referring to Gandhi's comments at an event in the UK.
"Sometimes they compare India with Pakistan, Sri Lanka or any other country, sometimes they raise fake and fabricated bogey of fear and hatred in the country only to defame India and tarnish its strength of harmony and tolerance," Naqvi said.
This clearly reflects the "height of ignorance and idiocy" of the Congress leaders, the minister said.
In a frontal attack on the Modi government, Rahul Gandhi had said at an event in the UK last week that the "deep state" in India is "chewing" the Indian state much like in Pakistan. His remarks evoked a backlash Saturday from the ruling BJP which branded him a "part-time, immature, unsuccessful leader" who betrayed the country with his remarks made on foreign soil.