Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his statement attacking the BJP-led cehtral government in London.

Speaking to ANI on Monday, Thakur said, ” Rahul Gandhi vivaadon ki aandhi ban chuke hain (Rahul Gandhi has put himself at the centre of a storm of controversies).” “Be it foreign friends, agencies or foreign shores, he is leaving no stone unturned to defame India. It seems he has taken up the job of defaming India on foreign land in a bid to hide his own failures. This is being done in a pre-planned manner,” Thakur said.

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During is ongoing visit to London, Rahul, who is currently a member of the Lok Sabha from Wayanad, has been unsparing in his criticism of the Centre

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi during his visit to London has repeatedly attacked the centre with allegations.

During his address at the Cambridge University on March 3, Rahul claimed that the basic structure of Indian democracy was under attack.

He claimed further that advanced Israeli spyware ‘Pegasus’ was being used to listen in on his phone calls, adding that he had been warned by the country’s intelligence officers to be “careful” while speaking on the phone as his calls were being recorded.

“I myself had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by intelligence officers who told me, ‘Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff. So this is the constant pressure that we feel — cases on the Opposition. I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases. That’s what we are trying to defend,” the Congress leader said in his address at the prestigious university.

Interacting with the Indian diaspora in London on Sunday, Rahul said what lies in the core of the BJP’s ideology was nothing but ‘cowardice’.

“it (cowardice) is there in their ideology. It is evident from the recent statements of our foreign minister. You can imagine what the ruling party stands for if the foreign minister says we don’t fight China because it is stronger than us. The Britishers were also superior and stronger than us. So, should we not have fought them? Could we have achieved independence following the principles of the BJP and the RSS? What lies at the heart of their political ideology is cowardice,” Rahul said.

During another interaction organised by the Indian Journalists Association in London, the Congress leader dubbed the recent tax survey at the India offices of British public broadcaster BBC as “suppression of voice”, alleging that the BJP, as part of its “new idea of India” wants the country to be silent to the muzzling of free speech.

“If the BBC stops writing against the government, everything will be normal. All the cases will disappear, everything (will) go back to normal. So, this is the new Idea of India. The BJP wants India to be silent. They want it to be quiet, the Dalits, the lower castes, the Adivasis, the media — they want silence. They want to take what’s India’s and give it to their close friends,” Rahul alleged.