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    EYE ON INDIA                                                           MARCH 20, 2026      |  The Indian Eye                    8

                                    BJP Intensifies Attacks

                 on Rahul Gandhi as He Sharpens

                                      His Challenge to Modi

              As Rahul Gandhi escalates criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over energy security and global crises,
              the BJP has mounted a coordinated political offensive aimed at undermining the opposition leader’s credibility

            OUR BUREAU                                                                                                Dubey argued that the incident
                                                                                                                  reflected what he described as Con-
            New Delhi
                                                                                                                  gress’s inability to connect with pub-
                  fresh round of political con-                                                                   lic  concerns.  “Is  this  a  picnic  spot?
                  frontation has erupted in Par-                                                                  Parliament is separate, the street is
            A liament as Leader of Oppo-                                                                          separate,” he said.
            sition Rahul Gandhi sharpened his                                                                         From the BJP’s perspective, such
            attacks on Prime Minister Narendra                                                                    attacks serve two strategic purposes.
            Modi over India’s energy security and                                                                 First, they blunt the impact of Gand-
            the fallout of the escalating West Asia                                                               hi’s criticism by portraying him as
            conflict. The ruling Bharatiya Janata                                                                 unserious or disruptive. Second, they
            Party (BJP), however, has responded                                                                   prevent the opposition narrative from
            with an aggressive counter-offensive,                                                                 gaining traction on substantive policy
            launching personal and procedural                                                                     issues such as energy security, foreign
            attacks against the Congress leader in                                                                policy or economic management.
            what appears to be a calculated polit-                                                                    Gandhi, however, has increas-
            ical strategy.                                                                                        ingly framed his criticism in terms
                The confrontation illustrates                                                                     of broader structural concerns about
            a familiar pattern in Indian poli-                                                                    India’s strategic autonomy and eco-
            tics: whenever Rahul Gandhi seeks                                                                     nomic vulnerability. He has ques-
            to  position himself  as the principal                                                                tioned whether external pressure is
            challenger to Modi, the BJP quickly                                                                   shaping India’s energy decisions.
            moves to shift the narrative from pol-  Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi drinks tea as he takes part in a protest at the Parliament prem-  “The foundation of every single
            icy questions to the opposition lead-  ises over the reports of nationwide shortage of LPG gas cylinders, during the ongoing Budget   nation is its energy security,” Gandhi
            er’s conduct and credibility.                                                                         said. “Allowing the United States to de-
                The latest clash began when               Session, in New Delhi on Thursday (ANI Photo/Rahul Singh)  cide who we buy oil from, who we buy
            Gandhi warned that the ongoing                                                                        gas from… Why a nation the size of In-
            conflict involving the United States,   speak in Parliament.        Sudhrenge’. Rahul Gandhi is a char-  dia would allow any other nation to de-
            Israel and Iran could trigger serious   “Special permission was granted   acter from that very film,” Singh said.  cide who our relationships are with?”
            energy disruptions for India.     to Mr Rahul Gandhi. As soon as he     Singh argued that the opposition   The Congress leader also ac-
                Gandhi linked the geopolitical   was allowed to speak, he didn’t speak   deliberately creates situations that   cused the Prime Minister of avoiding
            crisis to domestic concerns, citing   on LPG, but instead began speaking   lead to adjournments. “In his mind,   parliamentary scrutiny. “The PM is
            reports  of  LPG  shortages  and  dis-  on global issues,” Rijiju said. “He did   he  thinks  ‘I  am  the  king’.  They  de-  saying that there is no need to panic.
            ruptions across parts of the country.   not speak on the subject.”  liberately create such situations. If   But the PM himself is panicked for
            According to reports from Bhopal,     Rijiju  further  alleged  that  the   they wanted to speak seriously, they   completely different reasons. He is
            some restaurants have temporarily   Congress leader disrupted proceed-  would have spoken on LPG,” he said.  panicked because of the Adani case,
            switched to induction cooking sys-  ings while Petroleum Minister Hard-  The BJP’s criticism has not been   Epstein,” Gandhi said. “He is not
            tems to cope with shortages in com-  eep Singh Puri was delivering a state-  limited to parliamentary conduct.   able to come inside the House.”
            mercial gas supplies.             ment, claiming that opposition MPs   Party leaders have also targeted   Such remarks raise the political
                Congress and other oppo-      created a ruckus in the House.    Gandhi’s behaviour during protests,   stakes by directly challenging Modi’s
            sition leaders have demanded a        The government’s response re-  seeking to frame the opposition cam-  leadership, making a strong response
            parliamentary discussion on the   flects  a  broader  strategy  that  has   paign as political theatre rather than   from the ruling party almost inevitable.
            issue, arguing that the govern-   often  been  deployed  by  the  BJP  in   serious engagement.           The result is an increasingly
            ment must address the econom-     dealing with Gandhi: shifting the fo-  BJP  MP  Nishikant  Dubey  sub-  combative political environment in
            ic  consequences  of  the  conflict.  cus from the issues he raises to the   mitted a notice to Lok Sabha Speak-  Parliament, where debates on policy
                However, the BJP quickly sought   manner in which he raises them.  er Om Birla after Gandhi was re-  are quickly overshadowed  by  parti-
            to portray Gandhi’s intervention as   Union Minister Giriraj Singh   portedly seen having tea and biscuits   san confrontation. As global crises
            disruptive rather than substantive.   also launched a personal attack, ac-  during a protest over the LPG crisis.   begin to affect domestic economic
            Union Parliamentary Affairs Min-  cusing the opposition of deliberately   “This is Parliament, not a canteen,”   realities, the political battle between
            ister Kiren Rijiju accused him of   creating disruptions in Parliament.   Dubey said, questioning the optics of   Rahul Gandhi and the BJP is likely
            misusing the opportunity granted to   “There  was  a  film—‘Hum  Nahi   the demonstration.            to intensify further.

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