BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday asserted that the Congress played a pivotal role in establishing democracy in India, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi owes his position to the party’s contributions to the country’s democratic system.
Shivakumar’s comments came in response to Modi’s allegation that the Congress had spent years making repeated attempts to establish Rahul Gandhi as its prominent national leader.
"Congress has a long history. Even the PM knows that without Congress this country wouldn't have seen democracy. This is a party which has given democracy. If at all he (Modi) is the PM today, it is due to the Congress Party's contribution to India's leadership and democracy," Shivakumar told reporters.
"One should not forget the root. If you forget the root, you will not get the fruit," he said.
Modi on Thursday had hit out at the opposition Congress, saying that while the world was searching for a "new order", some people were dreaming of "disorder" in India.
In a direct attack on the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Modi had said the Congress made more failed attempts to launch its leader than India made rocket launches from Sriharikota in a year.
Responding to the BJP's criticism of Rahul Gandhi's repeated foreign trips, and its allegation that he returned from them and tried to destabilise the government, Shivakumar said the Congress leader was invited abroad by political leaders, business leaders and universities.
"He is a leader. Many foreign political leaders, business leaders and universities request him. He is a leader whom the entire world is looking at," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)