‘Full-scale assault’ on the democratic institutions of India: Rahul Gandhi

LONDON: There is a ‘full-scale assault’ on the democratic institutions of India and there are concerns in the European Union (EU) quarters over this attempt to ‘stifle’ the country’s democratic structures, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday.

Interacting with reporters at a media briefing in Brussels, Gandhi, who is on a European tour starting with Belgium, addressed a broad range of topics including the Russia-Ukraine conflict to say that the Opposition agrees with the government’s current position on the issue.

On India hosting the G20 Summit, Gandhi said it was a “good thing” and pointed to the lack of an invitation for Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to the event as reflective of a ‘type of thinking’ from the government that “did not value the leader of 60 per cent of India’s population”.

“There is an increase in discrimination and in violence in India and there is a full-scale assault on the democratic institutions of our country, that everybody knows,”

said Gandhi.

Asked about the reaction of the European parliamentarians, he replied: “They were very concerned and they felt that there is an attempt to stifle the democratic structures of India.”