Education Minister Pralhad Joshi. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday (August 13, 2026) accused Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of using “uncultured, crude, and vulgar language” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Reacting sharply to Mr. Gandhi’s remarks at the Rachnatmak Congress national convention, Education Minister Pralhad Joshi said, “Rahul Gandhi, when will you grow up? Running India requires mature leadership, not amateur dramatics. Calling a democratically elected government ‘jokers and clowns’ proves you are out of your depth”.
“By insulting the Prime Minister, you mock millions of voters who chose Modi ji for three historic terms. You are attacking the electorate’s intelligence simply because they rejected your dynastic politics. Labelling citizens as cowards for dismissing your negative narrative is exactly why you face almost a 100 electoral defeats. Stop the arrogance and respect the public mandate,” he said on X.
At the Congress event, Mr. Gandhi mocked Mr. Modi’s handling of foreign policy as being reduced to hugging world leaders. He then hugged Rachnatmak Congress chief Sandeep Dikshit to illustrate his point.
Terming Mr. Gandhi’s comments “uncultured, crude, and vulgar”, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj said the “offensive remarks” made him look “less like the Leader of the Opposition and more like a failed stand-up comedian”.
‘Cheap innuendo’
Ms. Swaraj accused the Congress leader of indulging in “cheap innuendo and locker-room talk”.
“India deserves a better LoP than a 56-year-old man acting in a juvenile manner. If we speak of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diplomacy, he is a leader who has signed not one or two, but nine Free Trade Agreements, securing India’s economic future across 38 countries,” she said.
“It seems Rahul Gandhi completely lacks a positive agenda. He now resorts to making statements solely tailored for social media memes and reels,” said Ms. Swaraj.
BJP’s national media head and MP Anil Baluni said, “The conduct displayed by the Congress, its allies, and their leader Rahul Gandhi within a democracy is unacceptable. Their behaviour is entirely undemocratic and unparliamentary”.
Mr. Baluni said the Opposition prevented discussions from taking place and was intent on creating a ruckus. “Rahul Gandhi refuses to allow discussions to proceed. From day one, he insisted on a debate regarding the Jantar Mantar protests; a debate was held for two days, but then he ran away from it,” he said, accusing Mr. Gandhi of changing goalposts.
(With inputs from agencies)
Published – August 13, 2026 11:04 pm IST
