Congress' damage control on Germany's intervention

New Delhi: The Congress appears to have distanced itself from the controversy over its leader Digvijaya Singh's tweet thanking Germany's Foreign Ministry for taking note of Rahul Gandhi's suspension from the Lok Sabha. BJP leaders and Union Ministers have slammed Singh over the tweet, calling it an open attempt to invite foreign powers to interfere in India's internal matters. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who is in charge of the party's communications, said the country's political problems should be solved from within, amid attacks by the BJP for allegedly trying to drag in foreign powers to influence India's internal affairs.

"Congress firmly believes that India's democratic processes themselves have to deal with the threats posed to our democracy by Mr Modi's assault on our institutions and his politics of vendetta, intimidation, threats and harassment. Congress and opposition parties will take him on fearlessly," Ramesh tweeted, without directly mentioning Mr Singh's comment that had led to a huge controversy. Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Anurag Thakur slammed Gandhi in tweets, repeating the allegation that he seeks foreign intervention in domestic affairs.

"Thank you Rahul Gandhi for inviting foreign powers to interfere in India's internal matters. Remember, the Indian judiciary can't be influenced by foreign interference. India won't tolerate foreign influence any more because our Prime Minister is Narendra Modi ji," Rijiju tweeted."Thank you Germany Foreign Affairs Ministry and Richard Walker for taking note of how democracy is being compromised in India through persecution of Rahul Gandhi," Singh had tweeted, referring to Germany acknowledging it has been tracking the developments concerning Mr Gandhi after he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a defamation case over asking if everyone with the surname "Modi" was a "thief".

Germany on Thursday said that "fundamental democratic principles" should apply in the case of Mr Gandhi. "We have taken note of the verdict of first instance against the Indian opposition politician Rahul Gandhi as well as the suspension of his parliamentary mandate. To our knowledge, Mr Gandhi is in a position to appeal the verdict," a German foreign ministry spokesperson said during a press briefing. "It will then become clear whether this verdict will stand and whether the suspension of his mandate has any basis," she added.