The Congress on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of insulting his predecessors and India's achievements since Independence during his visits abroad, saying it does not bode well for the country.
Congress' senior spokesperson Anand Sharma alleged that Modi was "misusing" state machinery for his personal promotion during his foreign visits and demanded that he and his Government come clean on the charge.
Modi should not berate his predecessors, previous Governments nor insult the great achievements of the Indian nation and the Indian people before he became the Prime Minister of the Indian Republic, Sharma said.
"His thinking, his mindset is authoritarian. This is undemocratic and it bodes ill for the country. I have said so and I need not repeat that government's resources have throughout been misused in the past for organising mega event shows," he said, citing Prime Minister's events abroad such as the ones held in Madison Square in New York or the Wembley Stadium in London.
Sharma cited a letter purportedly written by Indian Ambassador to Oman Indra Mani Pandey to Indian businessmen, seeking their support to ensure the success of a mega Indian diaspora event during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Muscat. Sharma said that, in the letter, Pandey had asked the businessmen to ensure the presence of Indians employed by them at the event.
"The Prime Minister true to his characteristic style continues to insult history and India's achievements since independence. He prefers to live in his make-belief world and in the past," he said.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Modi, while addressing the Indian diaspora in Oman's capital had said that India's image had suffered due to a long list of scams in the previous regime and his government worked hard to change the "style of misgovernance".
Sharma said that Modi was using the same phrases and allegations, which he did more than four years ago when he started his campaign to capture power and become the prime minister. "We condemn what he has said and reject the falsehoods that he has hurled," he told reporters.
The Congress alleged that on Prime Minister Modi's behest, the Indian envoy in Oman wrote the letter to Indian businesses in Muscat informing them of the government- sponsored event and asking them to bring at least 80 per cent "blue-collared workers". "This is unbecoming of the the Prime Minister," Sharma said.