From Amit Shah shoes to Pegasus, how BJP leaders countered Rahul Gandhi's jibes

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's energetic speech in the Lok Sabha invited equally charged responses from the government.

In an intervention during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address, Gandhi levelled a series of allegations against the government, including calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'shahenshah', and claiming that Ambani and Adani were a double-A variant spreading throughout the economy, while the population of the impoverished increased.

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Union minister Pralhad Joshi called the Wayanad MP "confused" and unaware of India's history. He was commenting on Gandhi's statement that the Constitution describes India as a union of states, and not a nation.

Meanwhile, external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar took exception to Gandhi's reported statement that India was getting increasingly isolated on the international stage. He reportedly blamed the Modi government for bringing China and Pakistan together, while being unable to secure a guest for the Republic Day parade. Jaishankar reminded Gandhi via Twitter that 5 Central Asian presidents who were slated to attend the parade didn't do so because of the third wave of Covid-19. The minister also listed incidents of China-Pakistan proximity when the Congress was in power.

Meanwhile, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju accused Gandhi of disrespecting institutions like the judiciary and the Election Commission. The Congress leader reportedly said that the judiciary, the EC, and tools like Pegasus are being used to silence the voice of states.

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Gandhi also came under attack from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over a statement that Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked some politicians from Manipur to take off their shoes at his residence while continuing to wear footwear himself. Sarma, a former Congress leader, said Gandhi fed biscuits to his pet dogs in the presence of Assam politicians, and then offered the same to the latter.