Congress MP Rahul Gandhi served up home truths in Parliament Monday, stating that neither his party-led UPA nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, which has ruled the country for the past decade, had been able to solve the jobs crisis.
But, in apparent twist, Mr Gandhi’s speech in the Lok Sabha this afternoon, far from containing only harsh attacks on the Prime Minister and his party, seemed to also included commiseration; he underlined the need for India to step up its manufacturing game but acknowledged that Mr Modi had “tried to increase (this)” and that his flagship ‘Make in India’ initiative was “good, as a concept”.
“Share of manufacturing fell from 15.3 per cent in 2014 to 12.6 per cent today. This is the lowest in 60 years. I am not blaming the Prime Minister… it would not be fair to say he did not try. ‘Make in India’ was a good idea… but PM Modi failed,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“Now, even though we have grown (and) grown fast… a universal problem we have faced is that we have not been able to tackle the problem of unemployment. Neither the UPA nor today’s NDA government has given a clear-cut answer to the youth of this country about employment.”
“Excellent companies had tried to increase production but failed,” Mr Gandhi said, as he then switched tack, and let fly a volley of jabs”… but now we have handed production to China…”
Holding up his mobile phone as an example, the Leader of the Opposition said, “We, as a country, have failed in organising production. We have handed it over to China. This phone is not ‘Made in India’… It is only assembled in India. All the components are made in China.”
“Every time we use a phone or wear a Bangladeshi shirt… we pay a tax to them.”
And, now on the warpath, Mr Gandhi then pivoted to the India-China border issue, declaring Beijing is now “sitting on over 4,000 sq km of our land”. He also claimed the Army had contradicted the government’s assertion – that no land had been surrendered to China. “The Prime Minister denied it but the Army contradicted him… China is sitting on 4,000 sq km of our territory…” he claimed.
#BudgetSession2025 | Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says “…Our Chief of Army Staff has said that the Chinese are inside our territory. This is a fact. The reason China is inside our territory is important…The reason China is sitting inside this country is because… pic.twitter.com/icqd5S365j
— ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2025
“Our Chief of Army Staff said Chinese are inside our territory… this is a fact (and) the reason China is inside is because ‘Make in India’ has failed… India is refusing to produce and I’m worried India is going to give up this revolution to the Chinese, again,” he warned.
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“If, and when, we fight a war with China, we will be fighting with Chinese motors, batteries, and optics… and we will be buying Chinese motors, Chinese optics and Chinese batteries.”
That comment provoked an immediate response from the government.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju spoke up, criticising the Congress leader for peddling false narratives. “How can you say this… you are speaking lies.”
#BudgetSession2025 | Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says “The Prime Minister has denied it and the Army has contradicted the Prime Minsiter that China is sitting on 4000 sq km of our territory…”
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla says “You will have to present the evidence… pic.twitter.com/u4XswMd2VO
— ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2025
He was also hauled up by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who this morning dealt with a fresh bout of chaos in the House after opposition MPs protested the Maha Kumbh stampede.
“You will have to present the evidence of what you are saying,” he told Mr Gandhi.
Mr Rijiju also reacted sharply to comments about the January 20 swearing-in ceremony of United States President Donald Trump, to which New Delhi had deputed External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. On this, Mr Gandhi said mockingly, “We would not send our Foreign Minister to the US to get our Prime Minister invited to the US President’s ‘coronation’.”
The Union Minister shot back, “The Leader of Opposition cannot make such a serious and unsubstantial statement. This is about the relation between two countries… and he is making an unverified statement about the invitation of the Prime Minister of our country…”
