NEW DELHI: A bitter war of words between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress over issues ranging from corruption, economy, polity, jobs, law and order and others is not uncommon. But there is another issue - Pakistan - over which the two make accusations against each other.

On Wednesday, the two main political parties hit out at each other and once again the agenda was Pakistan.

But this was not the first time that the two parties and their senior leaders traded barbs with Pakistan as the main subject.

The exchange of barbs between the two largest political parties has become shriller and more frequent since the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army against terror pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on September 29, 2016.

In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi even called each other “poster boy” of Pakistan.

Pakistan uses Rahul Gandhi’s remarks

The latest round of allegations and counter-allegations started with Rahul Gandhi raising an alarmist situation in Kashmir after his unsuccessful visit to Srinagar on August 24. "Things in Jammu and Kashmir are going very wrong. There are reports of violence. There are reports of people dying in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

Rahul Gandhi’s allegation was used by Pakistan to carry out its own agenda. The neighbouring country’s federal minister for human rights, Shireen Mazari, in a letter on the withdrawal of Articles 35A and 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, addressed to multiple UN officials, quoted him as saying that the people were “dying” in Jammu and Kashmir.

This forced Rahul Gandhi to issue a hard-hitting statement against Pakistan. “I disagree with this government on many issues. But, let me make this absolutely clear: Kashmir is India’s internal issue and there is no room for Pakistan or any other foreign country to interfere in it… There is violence in Jammu & Kashmir. There is violence because it is instigated and supported by Pakistan which is known to be the prime supporter of terrorism across the world,” he said on Twitter.

Congress’s communications department chief Surjewala too backed Rahul Gandhi and attacked Pakistan. He alleged that Rahul Gandhi has been mischievously dragged by Pakistan to justify their “pack of lies”.

“Let no one in the world be in doubt that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and shall always remain integral parts of India. No amount of diabolical deception by Pakistan shall change this truth,” he said.

However, the BJP got an opportunity to try and put the Congress and Rahul Gandhi on the backfoot.

Information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar charged that Rahul Gandhi gave Pakistan a handle to target India. “He [Rahul Gandhi] has made a complete U-turn not due to his own will but due to circumstances and public pressure,” he said.

Javadekar said Rahul Gandhi’s statement on violence in Kashmir was wrong and it was made due to the Congress’s “vote bank” politics. He asked if the Congress leader’s mindset had changed due to a change in his constituency - from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh to Wayanad in Amethi.

Countering Javadekar, Surjewala said BJP, which claims to work in 'national interest', has now officially gone on record to support Pakistan in its attempts to fuel divisive politics in India. “Is there no limit to their desperation for political mileage?” he tweeted with hashtag “BJP supports Pakistan”.

Pakistan’s ‘Poster Boy’

In the month of March and a few days after the Indian Air Force’s air strikes against Jaish-e-Mohammad’s terror camps in Balakot, Narendra Modi attacked Congress leaders for questioning the exercise. He said by questioning the air strikes, the Congress leaders gave proof of their mentality and that their leaders were "poster boys of Pakistan".

However, Rahul Gandhi launched a counterattack on Modi and accused the latter of being Pakistan’s “poster boy”. He said it was Modi who had hugged the then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif and invited that country's spy agency ISI to Pathankot air base and, therefore, he was the “poster boy of Pakistan”.

Imran Khan’s endorsement of Modi

A day before the first phase of polling for Lok Sabha election, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan endorsed Narendra Modi for the PM’s post. Talking to some foreign correspondents, he was reported as saying he hoped that peace between India and Pakistan had a better chance under Modi.

"If the next Indian government were led by the opposition Congress party, it might be too scared to seek a settlement with Pakistan over disputed Kashmir, fearing a backlash from the right... Perhaps if the BJP - a rightwing party - wins, some kind of settlement in Kashmir could be reached," he said.

The Congress lashed out at Modi and the BJP for Imran Khan's remarks. Randeep Surjewala accused Pakistan of officially allying with Modi. “A vote for Modi would be a vote for Pakistan,” he said.

Article 370 in Congress manifesto

Attacking the Congress over its election manifesto, Modi said the opposition party was speaking the language of Pakistan. “The Congress says Article 370 will not be nullified. The language of the Congress’s ‘Dhakosala Patra’ (Modi’s term for Congress’s Lok Sabha election manifesto) is the same as Pakistan’s. They have promised to hold talks with disruptive forces in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan also wished the same to happen,” Modi said at an election rally in Latur in Maharashtra.

In another election rally at Imphal, Modi alleged that the Congress manifesto was blowing Pakistan’s trumpet more than that of India by way of its stand on issues such as Article 370 and AFSPA.

Last year on the basis of statements of several leaders, Modi had alleged that both Pakistan and the Congress party wanted him to be removed from politics.

Surgical strikes

In his first reaction to the September 2016 surgical strikes, Rahul Gandhi had hailed Modi and said that he had acted as the PM for the first time. However, very soon he changed tack and became a critic Modi’s fierce critic over surgical strikes demanding its proof. He alleged that the PM was politicising the matter. Rahul also demanded proof of the exercise and went on to claim that the Congress-led UPA had carried out several surgical strikes.

Modi sought to use Rahul’s statements to the BJP’s advantage. He accused Rahul of doubting the valour of the Indian Army. The BJP alleged that the Congress was playing into the hands of Pakistan.

