In a sharp attack against the Congress party, BJP leader and Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that some Congress leaders had visited Pakistan to seek help to oust Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
While speaking on the second day of the BJP’s National Convention held at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, Nirmala Sitharaman accused Congress leaders of playing dirty politics by seeking help from Pakistan to remove PM Modi’s government.
“The defence forces conducted surgical strikes across the border and instead of commending them, the opposition wanted proof,” Sitharaman said. “We showed them the proof and some Congress leaders went to Pakistan to seek help to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. A big shame on our Opposition that they went to Pakistan and said, ‘please help us to remove them’. This is the kind of politics that the Congress plays.”
Nirmala Sitharaman statements targetting the Congress party comes as an apparent reference to senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, who had called for the support of Pakistan to not only remove the current government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi but also to help Congress come to power. This is not surprising since earlier, Congress had even promoted a ‘Modi hatao, Desh bachao’ Facebook advertisement in Pakistan.
Congress rhetoric at home and Pakistan’s rhetoric at the UNGA also had eerie similarities and Pakistan trolls had tried to shield and promote Rahul Gandhi fervently on Twitter. One can also recall how Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had gone to Pakistan for Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony and hugged the Pakistan army chief undermining the thousands of soldiers who are butchered by Pakistan. He had then asserted that he rather visit Pakistan than South India. In fact, global terrorist Hafiz Saeed had also endorsed Congress’ “vision” of Kashmir.