Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi, Union minister Anurag Thakur said, “every foreign tour of Rahul Gandhi is to demean the country and the current one is no different. He tries to humiliate PM Modi but ends up humiliating the country at last. What does he want to achieve going abroad on this sponsored trip.” He also said Gandhi likened the alleged targeting of Muslims in India to what used to happen to Dalits in Uttar Pradesh in the 80s but forgot to tell people that it was the Congress that was in power in the country and the state then.

Gandhi should answer if atrocities against Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities were patronised by the Congress, he asked.