'Anti-national toolkit': Nadda slams Rahul over UK remarks

Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda alleged on Friday that Rahul Gandhi has become a "permanent part of the toolkit" working against India and said the Congress leader will have to apologise for seeking "interference" from foreign powers in India's internal affairs.

In a statement, Nadda said anti-India forces have always had problems with a strong India, its robust democracy and decisive government. By criticising the state of democracy in India and seeking the intervention of the United States and Europe on foreign soil, Gandhi has attacked the country's sovereignty, he added.

"Rejected repeatedly by people, Rahul Gandhi has become a permanent part of the 'toolkit' working against India," Nadda said.

He accused the former Congress chief of insulting India, its Parliament, its democratically-elected government and people in Britain, a country that ruled over India for long. What Gandhi has done amounts to strengthening those working against India, the Bharatiya Janata Party president said.

The Congress has asserted that Gandhi will not apologise and he has sought permission to speak in Parliament to respond to the criticism levelled against him by the ruling party members in both houses.