Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has stirred controversy over his political conduct after claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s memory was lapsing like a “former president of America” in an apparent reference to Joe Biden that has invited a rare rebuke from the country’s foreign ministry.
In the run-up to the elections in the western state of Maharashtra last month, Gandhi said his sister, Priyanka Gandhi, had told him that Modi tended to repeat issues that had been discussed.
“I don’t know, maybe he has lost his memory. The former president of America used to forget, and he had to be reminded by his aides from behind. The president of Ukraine came and the president of America said that Russian President [Vladimir] Putin has come,” Gandhi said, referencing a Biden gaffe at the Nato summit earlier this year.
Gandhi’s remark was criticised by Shehzad Poonawalla, spokesman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as the “kind of venom being spewed against a person holding a constitutional position”.
Kangana Ranaut, a BJP member of parliament, also hit back, saying Modi made speeches for up to an hour without needing to glance at notes whereas Gandhi needed to refer to them all the time.
The Indian opposition leader’s remark was also criticised by a foreign ministry spokesman.