My mother more Indian than many, says Rahul Gandhi

Bengaluru: “My mother is more Indian than many Indians,” an emotional Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday, as he responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sarcastic barb at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi over her foreign origin and alleged that Mr Modi saw him as a “threat”.    

“My mother is an Italian. She has lived the larger part of her life in India. She is more Indian than many, many Indians I have seen,” said the Congress president.

“She has sacrificed her life for the country, she has suffered for the country. When Modi makes such comments, it shows the quality of the man. I am happy if he enjoys making such comments, he is welcome,” Mr Gandhi told a press conference before winding up his extensive tour of election-bound Karnataka.    

The issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin was raked up by Mr Modi at an election rally in Santemaranahalli on May 1 where he dared the Congress chief to speak for 15 minutes about the achievements of the Karnataka government in any language, including his “mother’s mother tongue”.

Mr Gandhi expressed confidence that the Congress power will return to power in the state. “The Congress came close to defeating the BJP in Gujarat... here, I am confident of the outcome,” he said.

Claiming that the Prime Minister saw a “threat” in him, Mr Gandhi said, “Modi has anger inside him and he has got anger for everybody not only for me. I attract that anger because he sees a threat in me. His anger is his problem, not my problem.”

On Wednesday, Mr Modi had remarked that Gandhi’s  ambition to become PM “reeks of arrogance”.

On Mr Modi’s personal attacks, Mr Gandhi said, “I have now learnt to deal with him, when he realises that he is coming into a space where there is no escape then he distracts and creates anger. We will not let him distract and create anger.”

The Congress president also took a swipe at Mr Modi for not holding any press conference in the last four years.

In a tweet, Mr Gandhi said, “Enjoyed meeting the regional and national press today in Bengaluru. We had a packed house! I’m sorry not everyone got a chance to ask a question due to the paucity of time.”

“But, unlike our PM who hasn’t had a press conference in 4 years, I will be doing many more of these!” he tweeted.

Mr Gandhi hit back hard at the BJP for mocking him over visiting temples and calling him an “election Hindu” who remembered Hindu shrines only during polls.

Maintaining that the BJP feels “uncomfortable” about his temple visits, Mr Gandhi said, “I don’t think they understand the term Hindu, because the term Hindu is a perspective, it is something that is in the heart, it is imbibed.”

On the purchase of Rafale fighter jets which the BJP and the Prime Minister have claimed was a good deal, Mr Gandhi said, “It is a very good deal for the Prime Minister and his businessman friend, who has a '45,000 crore debt, who has never built an aircraft in his life.”

Mr Modi paid '1,500 crore per aircraft that the UPA government had worked out at Rs 700 crore, he said.

On BJP’s criticism of politicisation of rape cases, Mr Gandhi said atrocities against women and their rape was indeed a “political issue, it’s a national issue”.

“Are you telling me if Indian women are raped politicians shouldn’t discuss it? It is absolutely a political issue, it is an issue that is fundamental. The treatment of our women is absolutely an issue,” he added,

The Congress president claimed India’s foreign policy was “decimated” as the Prime Minister looked at it as an individual exercise.

“He is under the impression that he can go on and have a personal conversation with the President of China and everything will magically happen,” he said, adding that the Prime Minister needs to take into confidence talented people in the foreign ministry.

“Are discussions happening with finance, foreign and defence minister on strategies? No. It’s a one man show,” he added.