Malviya took to X, alleging, “India’s leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi meets Ilhan Omar in the USA, a Pakistan-sponsored anti-India voice, a radical Islamist, and an advocate of independent Kashmir.Even Pakistani leaders would be more circumspect about being seen with such rabid elements. Congress is now openly working against India”
He further claimed that the banned Khalistan terror group supported Gandhi’s recent remarks on the Sikh community. “Sikhs For Justice, the banned Khalistan terror group, has backed Rahul Gandhi’s misinformed comments on the Sikh community in the US. After Ilhan Omar, this is yet another instance of Congress in cahoots with anti-India forces. Congress and Rahul Gandhi are indeed against India. They are doing everything possible to destroy India’s social fabric.” Malviya tweeted.
Continuing his criticism, Malviya also targeted Gandhi’s stance on reservations during an interaction at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. “Rahul Gandhi made it clear that he would eventually ‘scrap reservations,’” Malviya said, adding, “This shows that his talk of caste census and empowering the backwards and marginalized is just a façade.”
Other BJP leaders, including Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, joined the chorus of criticism. Sarma said, “Three consecutive Lok Sabha defeats have driven the Congress Party into the hands of Islamists and anti-India forces.” Dhami likened Gandhi’s language to that of pro-Khalistan separatists, remarking, “His rhetoric is no different from that of Pannun (a designated terrorist in India).”
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also condemned former Congress president’s meeting with Ilhan Omar, tweeting, “After spewing venom against Sikhs and running down India on foreign soil, now Rahul Gandhi meets and engages with anti-India Ilhan Omar.”
Union minister Piyush Goyal criticised LoP, saying, “Can anybody in his right mind justify or endorse the deplorable statements? The absolutely shameful manner in which India and every Indian is being defamed on foreign soil by Rahul Gandhi. It is a well-thought agenda of the Congress. I think it is by deliberate choice that he is making these statements because the Congress in its desire to attack PM Modi and this third term that the people of India have given to PM Modi. They are so frustrated that in their frustration they cannot differentiate between a political adversary and the nation.”
Further criticism came from Union home minister Amit Shah, who accused Gandhi of aligning with forces that seek to divide the nation. “Standing with forces that conspire to divide the country and making anti-national statements have become a habit for Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party,” Shah wrote on X.
Another BJP stalwart Giriraj Singh went a step further, calling for legal action and suggesting that Gandhi’s parliamentary membership should be revoked. “Whenever Rahul Gandhi meets people in India, he aligns with anti-India forces, and abroad, he meets figures like Ilhan Omar. It’s time to introduce a law to take action against such behavior. His membership should also be cancelled,” Singh said, recalling a time when membership was revoked for similar actions under former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s tenure.