One man’s vision cannot be substitute for national vision: Rahul Gandhi

PTI, Jul 23, 2020, 1:20 PM IST

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy building his own image, and noted that one man’s vision cannot be a substitute for a national vision.

Gandhi’s attack on the prime minister came as part of a series launched by him on Twitter, where he seeks to explain the India-China conflict at the border.

The Congress leader said there is no clear-cut vision for the country going forward.

He had earlier accused the prime minister of only being bothered about his image and the BJP had hit back at him alleging that he is indulging in “mudslinging”.

BJP president J P Nadda had accused Gandhi of attempting to politicise defence and foreign policy matters, saying it shows one dynasty’s desperation to wash their past sins of 1962 and weaken India.

The former Congress chief said one has to deal with the Chinese psychologically from a position of strength and if they sense weakness, “then you had it”.

“PM is 100% focused on building his own image. India”s captured institutions are all busy doing this task. One man’s image is not a substitute for a national vision,” he said on Twitter along with a two-minute video on the Chinese aggression at the LAC.

Gandhi said he is agitated because he can see a huge opportunity being lost by India.

“I can see that a huge opportunity is being lost. Why? Because we are not thinking long term; because we are not thinking big and because we are disturbing our internal balance.

“We are fighting amongst each other. Just look at the politics. All day long; all day long; Indian is fighting Indian. And, it is because there is no clear cut vision going forward,” he noted.

The Congress leader said he knows that the prime minister is his opponent and it is his responsibility to question him.

“My responsibility is to ask questions and put pressure on him so he does his work. His responsibility is to give the vision. It’s not there. I can tell you, guaranteed, it’s not there and that’s why China’s is in there today,” he alleged.

Explaining how to respond to China, he said the first thing is you should not take on China without a vision.

“And by that I don’t mean a national vision. I mean an international vision.”

He said the Belt and road initiative by China is an attempt to change the nature of the planet.

“India has to have a global vision. India now has to become an idea. And, it has to become a global idea. So that”s the thing that”s going to protect India, (it) is actually thinking big,” he said.

Gandhi said India has a border dispute with China and this issue has to be resolved. “But we have to change our approach, we have to change how we think.”

“This is the point at which the road parts. If we go this way we become a major player, if we go this way, we become irrelevant,” he noted.

Gandhi has launched a series of videos through social media platforms while speaking on the India-China border conflict.