The Congress on Tuesday defended party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's remarks at the University of California in Berkeley, USA, saying that in a democracy, it is justified to condemn a prime minister and he should have been prepared for this by now.


Congress leader Anand Sharma, in a press briefing, clarified that Rahul's intentions were not to belittle the prime minister.


"Rahul Gandhi wasn't belittling the prime minister. He did refer to him as the prime minister of the country. But it is justified to condemn a prime minister in a democracy," Anand told the reporters here.He even accused the ruling government of forcefully imposing their ideology on the people."Rahul Gandhi made India proud in foreign country. It's the prime minister who has humiliated the country time and again," Sharma said."If they think we will ask them before making any statement, they are wrong. They should be prepared for this kind of attacks," he added.He even hit back at Union Minister Smriti Irani for her remark on Rahul Gandhi and advised her to focus on her work to bring some fruitful result."Smriti Irani has achieved nothing. She failed in her role as an HRD minister. It would be good if she focusses on the new portfolio assigned to her. Smriti Irani is unaware of the history. She even modifies the fact," he said.Earlier in the day, Irani unleashed a tirade against Rahul and asserted that latter highlighting the fact that the grand old party donned arrogance in the 2012 under the helm of her mother Sonia Gandhi and hence, lost elections is a huge political confession.