BJP, Congress in war of words after Rahul Gandhi calls Muslim League ‘secular’ in US

Indian National Congress leader Pawan Khera said that the Muslim League of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and the Indian Union of Muslim League are two different entities.

• Shubham
• 02 June, 2023

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By: Shubham Ghosh

Ever since India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has reached the UK on a 10-day trip, there has been no dearth of controversies as the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit back at the Indian National Congress leader over each word that he has uttered.

On Thursday (1), Gandhi commented that Muslim League is a completely secular party and the saffron party did not waste a minute to retaliate. The 52-year-old Gandhi said this while interacting with journalists at the National Press Club in Washington. When he was asked about his party’s alliance with the Indian Union of Muslim League in the southern state of Kerala, he said, “Muslim League is a completely secular party, there is nothing non-secular about them…”

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India’s ministry of earth sciences Kiren Rijiju called Gandhi’s statement “extremely unfortunate” and said in a tweet, “Jinnah’s Muslim League is a secular party? The party responsible for India’s partition on religious lines is a secular party Extremely unfortunate that some people in India still consider the person who supports the Muslim League as Secular!”

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Jinnah's Muslim League is a secular party? The party responsible for India's partition on religious lines is a secular party?
Extremely unfortunate that some people in India still consider the person who supports the Muslim League as Secular! pic.twitter.com/vkx7mm1fDd

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) June 2, 2023

Brajesh Pathak, deputy chief minister of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh which is ruled by the BJP, called Gandhi’s statement “very saddening” and added that the people of India would never accept the “insulting of nation” overseas.

Amit Malviya, BJP’s spokesperson and information technology cell head, said it was Gandhi’s compulsion to remain acceptable in Wayanad in Kerala, which he represented in the parliament before getting disqualified in March, which made him call the Muslim League a ‘secular party”.

Jinnah’s Muslim League, the party responsible for India’s partition, on religious lines, according to Rahul Gandhi is a ‘secular’ party.

Rahul Gandhi, though poorly read, is simply being disingenuous and sinister here…

It is also his compulsion to remain acceptable in Wayanad. pic.twitter.com/sHVqjcGYLb

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 1, 2023

Indian National Congress leader Pawan Khera said that the Muslim League of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and the Indian Union of Muslim League are two different entities. In a Hindi tweet in response to Malviya, he wrote, “Are you illiterate? Do you know the difference between Kerala Muslim League and Jinnah Muslim League? Jinnah’s Muslim League is what your forefathers allied with. The other was the Muslim League with which the BJP had an alliance.”

अनपढ़ हो भाई?
केरल की मुस्लिम लीग और जिन्ना की मुस्लिम लीग में फ़र्क़ नहीं मालूम?
जिन्ना वाली मुस्लिम लीग वो जिस के साथ तुम्हारे पूर्वजों ने गठबंधन किया।
दूसरी वाली मुस्लिम लीग वो, जिसके साथ भाजपा ने गठबंधन किया था : https://t.co/IYdznQeS5Y https://t.co/Hiph3cRSAo

— Pawan Khera ?? (@Pawankhera) June 1, 2023

Many other Congress supporters also cited decade-old news reports saying that the BJP had inducted the IUML to retain power in the civic body in Nagpur in the western state of Maharashtra.

Supriya Shrinate, chairperson of Congress’s social media and digital platforms, slammed Malviya as a “fake news peddler” and shared the latter’s tweet asking him to prepare for some more sleep-deprived days ahead as Gandhi’s US visit continues.

Hey fake news peddler,

Good to see you burning the midnight oil. But brace up for some more sleep deficient days tracking Rahul Gandhi’s US trip.

You got a sad life man! https://t.co/2tYVbLMNqT

— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) June 1, 2023

“Hey fake news peddler, Good to see you burning the midnight oil. But brace up for some more sleep deficient days tracking Rahul Gandhi’s US trip. You got a sad life man!” she said in a tweet in response to Malviya.