On Rahul Gandhi's ‘panauti’ jab at PM Modi, BJP recalls Indira Gandhi's ‘insult’ of hockey team
Rahul Gandhi earlier took a dig PM Modi at an election rally while justifying the reason behind Indian cricket team's defeat in the World Cup finals.
Defending Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the dressing room of the Indian men's cricket team after they lost the World Cup final to Australia in Ahmedabad, the BJP on Wednesday accused then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of insulting the Indian hockey team that lost to Pakistan in the 1982 Asian Games final.
Recalling the 1982 Asian Games hockey final, the BJP said then PM Indira Gandhi went to watch the match and claimed that she left midway after India began trailing badly. It was an insult to the team and Indira Gandhi's conduct broke the players' morale, the BJP said, adding, "It is shameful that a senseless and immature person like Rahul Gandhi calls him a panauti."
During a speech in poll-bound Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi used ‘panauti’ barb against PM Modi, attributing India's WC loss to the prime minister's presence at the stadium. A Hindi slang, panauti loosely refers to someone who brings bad luck.
Also read: ‘We didn’t go, they lost in Amethi': Owaisi's 2019 reference to attack Rahul Gandhi
A BJP delegation sought ECI's action against the former Congress president as well as the incumbent Mallikarjun Kharge who alleged that Modi had been falsely claiming that his case was included in Gujarat's OBC list before he became the state's chief minister.
"The remarks of Kharge and Gandhi, who are indulging in spreading a web of lies and are habitual offenders, call for initiating criminal proceedings against these offenders and strict action as they have no respect for moral values in their conduct and even for the electoral laws as well as the Model Code of Conduct guidelines," the party delegate said in its memo to the poll watchdog.
Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma gave a different reason for team India's cricket World Cup loss in the final match. He said the Indian cricket team lost the finals because it was played on Indira Gandhi's birthday. “I have a request from BCCI. Please, India should not play on the day which is the birthday of Gandhi family members. I have learned this from the World Cup final,” he said.
