BJP targets Rahul for meeting ‘anti-India’ UK MP Corbyn, Congress tweets old photo of Corbyn & PM
Politics

BJP targets Rahul for meeting ‘anti-India’ UK MP Corbyn, Congress tweets old photo of Corbyn & PM

Getting a picture clicked not an act of terror, nor anti-national, says Congress leader Surjewala, who posted the tweet. He also asked if PM Modi endorsed the UK leader’s views.

   
Rahul Gandhi with Jeremy Corbyn (centre) and Sam Pitroda | Twitter

Rahul Gandhi with Jeremy Corbyn (centre) and Sam Pitroda | Twitter

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi landed in a fresh controversy Tuesday after a photograph of him and British MP Jeremy Corbyn emerged on social media, with the BJP asking him whether he subscribed to the UK politician’s “anti-India” views.

The Congress, in response, tweeted a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Corbyn, asking if the PM endorsed the British leader’s views as well.

Rahul’s photograph, posted by the Indian Overseas Congress, the overseas arm of the Congress party, shows him with Corbyn and Congress leader Sam Pitroda.

Corbyn, a member of Britain’s Labour Party, has been critical of the BJP-led Narendra Modi government and had called for India to curb ‘human rights abuses’ in Kashmir.

Reacting to the photograph, BJP’s IT-cell head Amit Malviya called Corbyn “anti-Hindu” and said Gandhi has found someone who denigrates India “with the same impunity as him”.

“Why oppose the country in an attempt to oppose PM Modi?,” asked BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla in a tweet. He added, “Whether it is meeting with anti-India elements like Jeremy Corbyn, who echo Pak propaganda on Kashmir, or signing an MoU with the Chinese and taking Chinese money into the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, or meeting the Chinese during Doklam, Rahul stands steadfast with anti-India forces.”

When contacted, Sam Pitroda told ThePrint that there was “nothing political” about the meeting, with took place at a hotel in London, where he had been staying.
“It is sad that we convert truth to lies, trust to mistrust, love to hate, inclusion  to exclusion and diversity to uniformity and make mountains from molehills to promote polarised politics and divide people rather than unite people,” added Pitroda.

‘Getting a picture clicked is not an act of terror’

Reacting sharply to the criticism, AICC general secretary in-charge for communication, Randeep Surjewala, tweeted an old photograph of Corbyn with Modi.

“It is the culture of our country, as also that of world leaders, to meet various people. You may have divergent opinions that are completely contrary to my interest, but you may meet and get a picture clicked. Getting a picture clicked is not an act of terror, nor is it an anti-national act,” Surjewala told mediapersons at the AICC headquarters in Delhi Tuesday.

“If this is the criteria, may I ask why was Prime Minister Modi meeting up with the same person? Why was he having a formal engagement with the same person? Does it mean Modiji has endorsed the entire agenda, or every anti-India remark by that person?” he added.


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