PM Modi’s “strongman image”, now India’s biggest weakness: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi released his second video in which he launched a fresh attack on the Prime Minister and his government, Rahul Gandhi said PM's fabricated strongman image is now the biggest weakness of the country. Rahul Gandhi also said that the PM has succumbed to the Chinese pressure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "strongman image" is "now India's biggest weakness", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said this morning as he sharpened his attack on the government in his latest video on the issues facing the country.

1. PM Narendra Modi's "strongman image" is now India's biggest weakness: Rahul Gandhi

"PM fabricated a fake strongman image to come to power. It was his biggest strength. It is now India's biggest weakness," Rahul  Gandhi, wrote in a tweet as he shared a video message, referring to the recent clashes with China in Ladakh in which 20 Indian soldiers died in the line of duty.

2. Rahul Gandhi shared a video message referring to recent clashes with China in Ladakh

In the nearly two-minute video, shared two days after the Congress leader said India will pay a "huge price because of the government's cowardly actions", Rahul Gandhi is heard talking about China's "strategy to restructure the planet".

3. Rahul Gandhi said, China's wants to restructure the planet

"Chinese don't do anything without thinking about a strategy. In their mind, they have mapped out a world and they are now trying to shape the world... that's what the scale of what they are doing. That's what Gwadar is, that's what Belt and Road is. It's the restructuring of the planet," Rahul Gandhi said.

4. Chinese don't do anything without thinking about a strategy, they are trying to shape the world:Rahul Gandhi

"At the tactical level, they are trying to improve their position whether it's Galwan, whether it's Demchok or whether it's the Pangong Lake. They are disturbed by our highway, they want to make our highway redundant. And if they are thinking larger scale, they want to do something with Pakistan in Kashmir," he added.

5. China is trying to improve its position

The tensions between India and China cannot simply be defined as "a border issue", Mr Gandhi is heard saying in the clip as he stresses: "It's a border issue designed to put pressure on the Prime Minister and they are trying to attack his image."

6. Rahul Gandhi said the tension with China can't simply be defined as border issue

"They understand that in order for Narendra Modi to be an effective politician, he has to protect the idea of "56 inch (chest)" and this is the idea that Chinese are attacking. They are basically telling Mr Narendra Modi that 'if you do not say what we are saying we will destroy the idea of  Mr Narendra Modi as a strong leader'," Rahul Gandhi said today.

7. China wants to destroy the idea of Narendra Modi as a strong leader:Rahul Gandhi

"Now the question is how will he (the Prime Minister) react... will he say I will take you on and say "I am the PM. I do not care about my image"...or he will succumb. The worry I have is that PM has succumbed... that the Chinese are sitting in our territory today and PM has publicly said that they are not.

8. PM has publicly said that Chinese are not in our territory while they are actually sitting there: Rahul Gandhi

To me, it indicates that he is worried about his image. If he allows the Chinese to understand that they can manipulate him, the Indian Prime Minister will no longer be working for the country," he further says in the clip.

9.It indicates that the PM is worried about his image, said Rahul

Today's attack is the latest in the series of comments made by Rahul Gandhi criticizing the government's handling of tensions at the border and the novel coronavirus pandemic.

10. Rahul Gandhi has been criticizing the government's handling of the tensions at the border and the pandemic.