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!”
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".
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.”
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!” she said in a tweet in response to Malviya.
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A rescuer assists a resident through heavy mud following flash floods on August 27, 2026 in Trishuli, Nepal. A sudden flood swept through the Bhote Koshi River basin in northern Rasuwa on August 26, damaging settlements, roads and energy infrastructure as rescue teams searched for residents and foreign travellers reported out of contact. Hundreds were reported missing, as the death toll started to climb.Getty Images
Rescue personnel provide medical treatment to a child at an army rescue camp in Trishuli Batar, Nepal, on August 27, 2026. A sudden flood swept through the Bhote Koshi River basin in northern Rasuwa on August 26, damaging settlements, roads and energy infrastructure, as rescue teams searched for residents and foreign travellers reported out of contact. Hundreds were reported missing as the death toll began to climb. Getty Ima
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