BJP responds to Rahul Gandhi's comments about Islamic State, says he is 'incapable' of leading Opposition party

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has retaliated to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s comments about the Islamic State, which said that the exclusion of a large number of people from the development process could lead to the creation of insurgent groups anywhere in the world. In a press conference in Delhi, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi questioned Rahul’s justification of the terrorist outfit and said that he is incapable of being a good Opposition leader. As per a report from India Today, Trivedi said that the BJP strongly condemns Rahul’s statements, which have “belittled” Indian politics in the eyes of the world. He went on to cite many examples to refute Rahul’s claims about the BJP’s divisive politics in his 23 August speech in Hamburg, Germany . Specifically responding to his comments about the Islamic State, Trivedi asked how Rahul could so easily equate terrorism with unemployment. “Was the world’s biggest terrorist, Osama bin Laden, merely a helpless youth? No, he was a billionaire! And those responsible for 9/11; were they also just lost youths? No, they were fully equipped and capable to have a good life in the US,” he said. He also said that if Rahul plans to lead a party which was formerly led by people such as Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmanya Tilak, Sardar Patel, Sri Ram Gopal Achari, and Babu Rajan Prasad, then he will likely not be able to fill in those shoes. He concluded his statement by saying “I would urge Rahul Gandhi to stay in India and study the current scenario before insulting India on foreign land. Perhaps his eyes of wisdom would be more open, and he would be able to understand Indian culture, economy, and politics.”

Rahul Gandhi is incapable of playing a positive and constructive and a mature role as a leader of opposition in the party: Shri @SudhanshuTrived pic.twitter.com/RjRpMlEdBb

— BJP (@BJP4India) August 24, 2018

The comments come hours after BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra demanded an explanation from Rahul for portraying India in a bad light. “His speech was full of lies and deception,” Patra was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.  Addressing the Congress president directly, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra demanded that Rahul explain his comment , asking that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not given the ‘vision’ to minorities, should they join the Islamic State. “Mr Gandhi, for this comment, we can’t forgive you,” Patra said. In his address in Hamburg on Wednesday, Rahul traced the creation of Islamic State to warn against a similar situation at home if people are excluded from the development process. “It is very dangerous in the 21st Century to exclude people. If you don’t give people a vision in the 21st century somebody else will give them one.” “And that’s the real risk of excluding large number of people from our development processes,” he added, accusing the BJP government of excluding tribals, Dalits and minorities from the development process. He also said that the incidents of lynching in India were due to “anger” emanating from joblessness and “destruction” of small businesses due to demonetisation and the “poorly implemented” GST by the ruling BJP.