‘Rahul Gandhi has spoken truth’: Congress defends its leader’s ‘Turban’ remarks in US

Congress has defended Rahul Gandhi's “Turban” remarks during his visit to the United States, saying the party MP has spoken the truth. Reacting to the BJP's criticism of Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said it only wants to “spread religious paranoia.” “Whatever Rahul Gandhi has said is the truth,” he said.

Pramod Tiwari said, “RSS and BJP want to divide the society on the basis of religion and caste. They want to divide the nation and spread religious paranoia. Whatever Rahul Gandhi has said is the truth.”

This comes amid a row created by Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the United States, where he said that today the fight in India is whether a Sikh person will be able to wear his turban, kada, and visit Gurdwara. The BJP leaders claimed that the former Congress chief was "defaming India" with his comments.

Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Congress leader KC Venugopal said, “The ‘Modi bubble’ has burst. His politics of fear has failed, and nobody takes him or his band of cheerleaders seriously.”

“Rahul ji has time and time again warned about the BJP-RSS’ dangerous politics of hatred and division. His entire mission has been to bring in love, respect and humility in public discourse, and foster the idea that India is a country where multiple ideas and identities co-exist. The BJP-RSS is the single biggest threat to this inclusivity.”

Reacting to the BJP's charges, Congress media and publicity department chief Pawan Khera said, the BJP or Narendra Modi should not have this misunderstanding that condemning them is like condemning India.

“Since when has the BJP become 'Bharat'. If the BJP is criticised, then it is seen as criticism of ‘Bharat’,” Khera said.

"They criticise India's ancestors, founding fathers across the world. We will criticise their policies, raise questions over. It is our job. What objection do they have in it?" Khera added.

Kherafurther said, "When the PM says on foreign soil that people were ashamed to be born on Indian soil, what was that? When he speaks against (Jawaharlal) Nehru abroad, what was that?"

Recalling controversial statements made by the Prime Minister both in India and abroad Khera said, "A person sitting on the post of PM talks about recognising people by clothes. His party runs a movement against Hijab. Those who run a movement against hijab now will tomorrow also come for turbans of Sikhs. Nobody has a doubt about that."