Ex-Pakistan minister's praise for Rahul Gandhi gives ammo to PM Modi: 'Cong is their mureed'

PM Modi addresses election rally in Anand

Former Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry's effusive praise for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi triggered a political slugfest on Thursday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing the grand old party as the "disciple of Pakistan".

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Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, a former minister in Imran Khan's cabinet in Pakistan, had shared a video featuring Rahul Gandhi on his social media handle and praised him.

The caption read: "Rahul on fire".

In the video, Rahul could be heard attacking the BJP government over the people invited for the Ram Mandir's Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22.

At a rally in Gujarat, PM Modi seized on the post to attack Congress and alleged that people in Pakistan are praying for the grand old party's return to power.

"Pakistan is crying because Congress is dying here. Pakistani leaders are praying for Congress. Pakistan is eager to make 'shehzada' (referring to Rahul Gandhi) the next prime minister. This is not surprising because we already know that Congress is Pakistan's 'mureed' (disciple). The partnership between Pakistan and Congress has been exposed. It shows the country's enemies want a weak government in India, not a strong one," PM Modi said in Anand.

PM Modi also took a dig at Congress over opposition leader Salman Khurshid's niece Maria Alam's call for "vote jihad".

"Now, the INDI alliance calls for 'vote jihad'. We have so far heard about 'love jihad' and 'land Jihad'. This (vote jihad) is said by a person who belonged to an educated Muslim family, not by someone who studied in a madrasa. I hope you all know what the meaning of jihad is. This is an insult to democracy and not a single Congress leader has condemned it," he said.

BJP, too, took a dig at Rahul over the remarks made by the former Pakistani minister.

"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," BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya said on X.

However, Congress's ally Shiv Sena (UBT) came to Rahul's defence, saying that Pakistani ministers praise PM Modi as well.

"Pakistan minister praises PM Modi also, don't do India and Pakistan in it. This is his view. India's election is witnessed by the whole world whether it's Afghanistan, America or Europe; so if a Pak minister thinks that changes are going to occur in India, it's going to happen then, what is in it?" Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said.

(With inputs from agencies)