“Our Boys Would Have Won The World Cup, But ‘Panauti’ Defeated Us There”: Rahul Gandhi (image-twitter/congress)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘Panauti’ and blamed him for India’s defeat in the ICC World Cup 2023. While addressing a rally in Rajasthan’s Jalore, he took a dig at PM Modi, without mentioning the name, he said, “Our boys were almost winning but “panauti’ (bad omen) made them miss the trophy. The television channels would not tell anything but public knows everything”.

पनौती 😉 pic.twitter.com/kVTgt0ZCTs

— Congress (@INCIndia) November 21, 2023

The Congress leader”s comment came in hours after the Prime Minister’s office released a video clip of PM Modi consoling the Team India players after the defeat in the dressing room. Rahul Gandhi’s comment evoked loud laughter from the audience.

Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s remark, Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP MP and former Union Minister said that the Congress leader’s choice of words were wrong, “Rahul Gandhi chose the wrong words. What has happened to him?” he asked. He then added that his party condemns Rahul’s remark and also sought an apology from the Congress MP at the earliest. He then recalled Sonia Gandhi’s similar remark on PM Modi calling him ‘maut ka saudagar’ at a poll in Gujarat. He then claimed that Congress is unable to win in Gujarat is due to Sonia Gandhi’s remark. “You should learn from the past,” he added, reports India Today.

Meanwhile, former cricketer and Trinamool Congress politician, Kirti Azad expressed his disagreement about Prime Ministers visit to the Indian cricket team in the dressing room and wrote on X, “The dressing room is the sanctum sanctorum of any team. @ICC does not allow anybody to enter these rooms apart from the players and the support staff. PM of India should have met the team outside the dressing room in the private visitors’ area. I say this as a sportsman and not politician.”

The dressing room is the
sanctum sanctorum of any
team. @ICC does not allow anybody
to enter these rooms apart
from the players and the
support staff.

PM of India should have met
the team outside the dressing
room in the private visitors
area.

I say this as a…

— Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzaad) November 21, 2023

This has raised questions regarding the rules set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) about the official visit to sports team dressing rooms. ICC has laid strict rules restricting access to dressing room only allowing the team members and support staffs during the match.