NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday criticised Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on India’s manufacturing sector during his visit to Germany, accusing him of “insulting India from foreign soil” at a time when Parliament is in session. BJP MP Sambit Patra said the LoP carries a “huge responsibility” and needs to behave in a “responsible manner”, especially while travelling abroad. “LoP has a huge responsibility. The LoP has to behave in a really responsible manner, especially when the LoP is on foreign soil. Parliament is in session here, several Bills are being discussed in the House and Rahul Gandhi is in Germany to address the Indian diaspora.” Patra said. Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the BMW factory in Munich, Patra alleged that the Congress leader praised German manufacturing while portraying India in a bad light. “Today, we saw Rahul Gandhi visiting BMW factory in Munich and there, he appreciated their manufacturing and said that he is sad that manufacturing is poor in India,” Patra said. The Puri MP rejected Rahul’s claims of Indian manufacturing being in a fragile state and declining, citing data. “Insofar as manufacturing is concerned, IIP (index of industrial production) is on a positive growth trend. In 2025 manufacturing in the country has grown at a record 5.4 per cent. Also right now our GDP is growing at 8.2 per cent, we’re among the fastest growing GDPs in the world, in which around 17 per cent contribution is of manufacturing,” he further added, “Rahul and responsibility can never move together. Whenever he visits abroad, he insults Parliament and India.”Earlier in the day Congress on X posted a video of Rahul Gandhi visiting the automobile major BMW’s headquarters in Munich. The post added that he inspected several cars and motorcycles at the plant. “He was pleased to see TVS’s 450cc motorcycle, developed in partnership with BMW—a proud moment to witness Indian engineering on display,” the post read. In the same post, Rahul reiterated his criticism of the Centre’s manufacturing policy. Congress quoted him saying, “Manufacturing is the backbone of strong economies. Sadly, in India, manufacturing is declining. For us to accelerate growth, we need to produce more – build meaningful manufacturing ecosystems, and create high-quality jobs at scale.” In a video shared by the party, Gandhi said, “India needs to start producing. Production is the key for the success of any country. And our manufacturing is declining which actually should be going up.”Rahul Gandhi is currently in Germany as part of an outreach programme and is scheduled to address the Indian diaspora in Berlin on December 17.
