The Congress on Thursday slammed the BJP for targeting the party over former Pakistan minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain remarks praising Rahul Gandhi and claimed that he was “pressured” by former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother”s current government to do so.
Congress leader Rashid Alvi claimed that Nawaz Sharif “had good relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi” and said that the BJP could benefit from such comments while campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Hussain, a former minister in Imran Khan”s cabinet in Pakistan, shared a video featuring Rahul Gandhi on his social media handle and captioned it as “Rahul Gandhi on fire”. The video prompted the BJP to launch a scathing attack on the Congress.
Amit Malviya, the BJP”s IT cell chief, latched on to the post and questioned the Congress” association with Pakistan.
“Ch Fawad Hussain, who served in the Imran Khan cabinet, as Minister for Information and Broadcasting, is promoting Rahul Gandhi. Is the Congress planning to contest election in Pakistan?”
“From a manifesto, that has imprints of the Muslim league to a ringing endorsement, from across the border, Congress”s dalliance with Pakistan can”t get more obvious,” Malviya added.
Alvi said, “Chaudhry Fawad Hussain could not make Imran Khan the Prime Minister. He (Imran Khan) is in jail. He will now talk about what is going on in India. The statement by Fawad Chaudhry was made under pressure from Nawaz Sharif and his brother”s government.”
“PM (Narendra) Modi has very good relations with Nawaz Sharif. This statement has come so that our Prime Minister can exploit it. BJP has relations (with Pakistan). Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi never went to Pakistan. The people who want to take benefit from his (Hussain”s) statement have pressurised him,” he added.
In the video, Rahul Gandhi could also be heard referring to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir and overlooking the interests of the poor and the youth.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Pakistani leaders “were praying for Congress now” and eager to see Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister.
Addressing a rally at Anand in Gujarat, PM Modi repeated his “shehzada” (prince) jibe against Rahul Gandhi and said, “Look at the coincidence. The Congress today is getting weak in India. The funny thing is that as the Congress is dying, Pakistan is crying. Now, Pakistani leaders are praying for Congress. Pakistan is eager to appoint the “shehzada” (prince) as the Prime Minister.
“We know that the Congress is a disciple (“mureed”) of the Congress. This partnership of Pakistan and the Congress has now been completely exposed. The enemies of the country don”t want a strong government in India. They want a weak and corrupt government, like the one that existed before 2014.”
As Hussain’s post triggered a storm on social media, the Pakistan politician defended it and said he stood against “extremists” and “hate mongers” anywhere in the world.
“I oppose extremists and hate mongers be it in Pak or India or elsewhere and Modi and BJP are the people who should be opposed by everyone with conscience, btw I get same reaction from Muslim fundos,” he said in response to a post by an Indian user.