NEW DELHI: From the UK, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Modi government and in a comment that has ignited a fierce debate back home, alleged that BJP had spread "kerosene all over the country and all it needs is one spark".
Speaking at the 'Ideas for India' conference, Rahul said the soul of India was under attack from the saffron party and the government led by it.
India's voice had been crushed by the institutional framework of the country itself, which was becoming parasitical, he said, adding that the Modi government was strangulating democracy with help of Central investigative agencies.
"A soul without a voice means nothing and what has happened is that India's voice has been crushed. So, the 'Deep State', the CBI, the ED, is now chewing the Indian State and eating it, much like in Pakistan," he said.
Taking on PM Narendra Modi, the Gandhi scion said: "The Prime Minister must have an attitude that 'I want to listen'. And from there everything flows down. But our Prime Minister doesn't listen. You can’t have a country that's not allowed to speak and a PMO that can't speak freely."
Several other opposition leaders, including CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Trinamool Comgress' Mahua Moitra and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav are participating in the conference, organised by the think-tank Bridge India.
'Congress not the big daddy'
Trying to placate regional players who lashed out at his recent comment that only the Congress could fight the BJP ideologically, Rahul said the party will coordinate with regional players to take on the BJP and did not want to play the role of a "Big Daddy".
Clarifying his comment made at the Congress Chintan Shivir, he said: "The point I made in Udaipur, which was misconstrued, is that this is an ideological battle now. It is a national ideological battle, which means that, of course, we respect the DMK as a Tamil political organisation, but the Congress is the party that has the ideology at the national level."
"I don't view the Congress as the 'Big Daddy'. It is a group effort with the opposition. But it is a fight to regain India. In no way is the Congress superior to the other opposition parties; we are all fighting the same battle," he said.