Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, now on a six-day tour in the United States, criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying there are people in India who think they know more than God and PM Modi is "one such specimen."

Speaking at an event in San Francisco organised by the Indian Overseas Congress USA, he took a dig at PM Modi, suggesting that Modi "would start explaining to God how the universe works” as “Some people believe they know everything,” insinuating that the Premier falls into this category, reports NDTV.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur swiftly responded to Gandhi's comments, accusing the Congress leader of being unable to accept the praise and appreciation PM Modi received during his recent foreign visits. Thakur claimed that Gandhi's remarks were an attempt to undermine India's progress on the international stage.

During his first speech on his three-city visit, Rahul Gandhi shed light on the launch of the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

“Some months ago, we started a walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. While walking we realised that normal instruments for doing politics (connecting with people) were not working anymore. They were controlled by the BJP and RSS. People are threatened and agencies are used against them. In some way, it had become quite difficult to act politically. That is why we decided to walk from the southernmost tip of India to Srinagar," the Congress leader said at an event titled 'Mohabbat ki Dukaan' on Wednesday.

In an apparent jab at PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi remarked, “Some groups in India are under the impression that they know everything. In India, we grew up with people of different languages, different religions. And that is what is being attacked. The tradition in India, of people like Gandhi Ji and Guru Nanak Ji, has been that you should not be under the impression of knowing everything. It is a 'disease' that some groups of India think that they know everything. Even if they have a conversation with God, they might explain to him.”

"And of course, the Prime Minister is one of them. If you make him sit with God, he would start explaining to him (God) how the universe works...and God would get confused about what I had created. They (BJP) can speak to scientists and explain science to them. They can explain history to historians, warfare to the army and flying to the air force. But at the heart of it, they don't know anything,” he added.

The ruling BJP responded strongly to Gandhi's remarks. Union Minister Anurag Thakur accused the Congress leader of insulting India while on his visits abroad.

“During his foreign visits, Rahul Gandhi insults India, which is unacceptable. He wants to insult PM Modi but ends up insulting India, questioning India's progress. He is trying to tarnish India at a time the world is acknowledging our growing stature," he said.

“PM Modi met almost 24 PMs and Presidents of the world and held over 50 meetings during his foreign visit recently. Several world leaders say Modi is the most popular leader. When the Australian PM said 'PM Modi is the Boss', Rahul Gandhi could not digest this,” added the Union Minister.