The Bharatiya Janata Party has strongly criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks at the Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad, alleging that he used an international platform to defame Indian democracy and invite foreign interference.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has strongly criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks at the Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad, alleging that he used an international platform to defame Indian democracy and invite foreign interference.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has strongly criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks at the Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad, alleging that he used an international platform to defame Indian democracy and invite foreign interference.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his speech at the Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad, accusing him of defaming India before an international audience.

In a post on X, BJP leader C.R. Kesavan dubbed the two-day event, hosted by the Telangana government, the ‘Bharat Badnaam Summit’, alleging that Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders used the platform to malign India.

“The Congress party-sponsored Bharat Summit was, in reality, a Bharat Badnaam Summit, where Rahul Gandhi and his cronies badmouthed our nation and our democracy in the most foul manner,” Kesavan said.

“Rahul Gandhi defamed India’s democratic process in front of handpicked foreign delegates, many of them with very dubious credentials,” he added.

The BJP leader also demanded that the Congress come clean on the backgrounds of the foreign delegates and their alleged links with organisations associated with and funded by US billionaire George Soros.

Kesavan said Rahul Gandhi’s decision to provide an international platform to individuals with "questionable characters" to criticise Indian democracy could not be viewed in isolation. He also recalled the Congress leader’s earlier remarks calling for foreign involvement in India’s internal affairs, including his statement, “It is not just an Indian battle.”

“Rahul Gandhi and his ecosystem's sinister agenda to somehow destabilise Indian democracy with the aid of foreign powers will fail miserably and will boomerang back very badly on the compromised Congress party,” Kesavan said.

On Saturday, addressing the summit, Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that “India is actually no longer a democracy”.

Meanwhile, the Union government reportedly denied or revoked visas for more than 100 foreign invitees to the Bharat Summit, including Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, while granting clearance to over 300 others.

Lyng, who briefly attracted media attention during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Oslo in May after raising a question about press freedom with the Indian side, was reportedly scheduled to participate in a panel discussion at the Hyderabad summit.