BJP leader’s old tweet linking Modi surname with corruption resurfaces

Khushbu Sundar said that she had posted the tweet in 2018 when she was in the Congress.

Mar 26, 2023 - 09:30

BJP leader’s old tweet linking Modi surname with corruption resurfaces

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Khushbu Sundar, who was earlier in the Congress, was left defending herself on Saturday after an old tweet resurfaced in which she had linked the Modi surname to corruption.

The tweet came into prominence in the light of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi being sentenced to two years in jail in a defamation case for his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname on Thursday. On Friday, Gandhi was disqualified as an MP of the Lok Sabha on the basis of the conviction.

Opposition leaders have alleged that the action against Gandhi was politics of vendetta, while legal experts speaking to Scroll have opined that the Congress leaders comments did not defame all persons with the Modi surname.

On Saturday, Khushbu Sundar’s tweet posted in 2018 resurfaced, where she had referred to Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi – fugitive businessmen accused of fraud. “Modi means corruption,” Sundar had posted. “Let’s change the meaning of Modi to corruption...suits better.”

Her comments were similar to those allegedly made by Gandhi in a 2019 election rally in Karnataka, where he had said: “Why do all the thieves, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, have Modi in their names?”