Rahul scoffs at PM’s foreign policy; Kharge says being ‘Modi bhakt’ will not help country

Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday (August 13, 2026) attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for allegedly avoiding the Opposition in Parliament for 20 days, while Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi described the BJP-RSS as a “bunch of jokers”.

Mr. Gandhi mocked Mr. Modi’s handling of foreign policy as being reduced to hugging world leaders. Speaking at the national convention of Rachnatmak Congress, a wing of the party which engages with civil society activists and organisations, the Opposition leader said it was “ignorance” to believe that foreign policy was about embracing leaders.

He then hugged Rachnatmak Congress chief Sandeep Dikshit to illustrate his point. “Imagine the ignorance… where did he get the idea that foreign policy was about hugging leaders,” Mr. Gandhi said, questioning the Prime Minister’s approach to international relations.

He said India could not be understood through a fixed political “order” imposed by the BJP-RSS, but only by allowing the country to express itself. Referring to the student protests at Jantar Mantar, he said the students wanted to express themselves, while the government wanted to impose “order” and prevent them from doing so.

“Their political philosophy is to impose an order on India which benefits them and certain other people. Our job is to make India express itself and break that order,” Mr. Gandhi said, adding, “We will drive them crazy.”

He said the Opposition’s fight against the government would continue without hatred or violence. “Till the day Mr. Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah don’t give their resignations, they will not be able to sleep. We will keep them awake,” Mr. Gandhi said, describing the struggle as one rooted in “love, brotherhood and ahimsa”.

Mr. Gandhi also attacked the RSS, claiming that it had ceased to represent its original social base and had become an “instrument of large capital”, naming industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani. He alleged that the “corporatisation” of the RSS had culminated during the Modi government.

He questioned why Mr. Modi did not hold press conferences, saying that after meeting him, he had concluded that the Prime Minister “cannot go before the media”.

Calling the BJP-RSS a “bunch of jokers” and “clowns”, Mr. Gandhi said its leaders had no understanding of India’s philosophy or history. “A lot of people in India are behaving as cowards before a cowardly force,” he said, arguing that understanding contemporary India required listening to its “expression”.

‘Not platform for publicity’

Earlier, Mr. Kharge said Parliament was not a platform for the Prime Minister’s publicity but a forum where different viewpoints should be heard, debated and answered within democratic norms. “Being a Modi bhakt alone will not benefit the country. We have to care about the country,” he said.

The Congress chief accused Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah of avoiding Parliament for 20 days and said Mr. Shah’s offer of a discussion shortly before the end of the session was a “deception”.

“Mr. Shah did not become Home Minister to sit in his chamber,” Mr. Kharge said, demanding that he face Opposition questions over the police action against students in Delhi.

He said the government was increasingly relying on “lathis and suppressing voices”, while accusing the BJP and RSS of pursuing a politics of division.