KC Venugopal hits back over PM Modi's criticism of Congress, says "whatever America told you to say, you are abiding"

He alleged that the government had followed the advice of the United States and claimed that the government's stance in the West Asia crisis had not helped in dealing with the challenges faced by Indians.

"That is also a big tamasha... This crisis of Gulf countries and the crisis of Indians residing in the Gulf countries happened due to our foreign policy. The India government didn't have a clear-cut policy on all these things," he said when asked about PM Modi's remarks accusing Congress of politicising the impact of the West Asia crisis.

"Whatever America told you to say, you are abiding. You are obeying America.... the things which are going to happen to the people of the Gulf area are because of your foreign policy... We are completely in a surrendering mood," he told ANI.

PM Modi attacked the Congress in an election rally in Keralam and accused it of politicising the West Asia crisis. He also accused the party of making irresponsible remarks about the situation.

Congress MP KC Venugopal also accused the BJP-led government of attempting to "bulldoze" the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, without proper discussion.

"Yesterday, the Prime Minister said that the Congress is lying about the FCRA issue. Without discussing this in the Business Advisory Committee, the government suddenly tried to bulldoze that bill," he said.

He added that Congress leader Manish Tewari had objected to the bill at the time of its introduction, stating that it was anti-constitutional and could adversely impact minority communities, particularly Christians.

"I spoke to Kiren Rijiju not to go with this bill, or we would be forced to stop this bill at any cost. Then they finally ran away because of the anger from Keralam and other parts of the country," he said.

The Congress MP alleged that the government had only temporarily withdrawn from pushing the bill and that its "agenda is very clear."

Polling for the 2026 Keralam Legislative Assembly elections will be held on April 9, with the counting of votes on May 4. (ANI)