Rahul Gandhi’s remarks mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s practice of hugging foreign leaders have triggered a political clash, with BJP MP Nishikant Dubey responding by sharing photographs of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with international leaders.

The BJP’s counter came after Rahul Gandhi questioned the idea that hugging foreign leaders could be considered foreign policy. Dubey shared photographs of Indira Gandhi with Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, along with a widely circulated photograph of Rahul Gandhi hugging PM Modi in Parliament in 2018.

The exchange began at the Congress’s Rachnatmak Congress national convention on Thursday, where Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Modi’s diplomatic style.

Gandhi said he could not understand where Modi had got the idea that foreign policy was about hugging world leaders. He then hugged Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit to illustrate his point.

“Imagine the ignorance... where did he get the idea that foreign policy was about hugging leaders,” Gandhi said.

Dikshit then asked Gandhi, “Meloni samajh ke toh nahi pakda tha?” Gandhi replied, “I have not reached there yet.”

The exchange was widely circulated on social media, with BJP leaders accusing Gandhi of making an inappropriate reference to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey responded by bringing Indira Gandhi into the political row. In his post on X, he shared photographs of the former prime minister with Fidel Castro and Yasser Arafat, alongside the 2018 photograph of Rahul Gandhi embracing PM Modi in Parliament.

Dubey accompanied the photographs with a provocative reference to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks, asking whether he regarded such embraces as a “gastric fire” or “the fire of lust”.

A video of Indira Gandhi meeting Castro also resurfaced on social media as the political exchange intensified.

The BJP’s response was followed by criticism from several other party leaders. Education Minister Pralhad Joshi asked Gandhi when he would “grow up”, accusing him of insulting Modi and, by extension, the voters who elected him.

“By insulting the Prime Minister, you mock millions of voters who chose Modi ji for three historic terms,” Joshi said, while accusing Gandhi of displaying arrogance towards the public mandate.

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj also criticised Gandhi’s remarks, saying the language was inappropriate for someone holding the constitutional position of Leader of the Opposition. She accused him of using “cheap rhetoric for social media memes and reels” instead of offering constructive opposition.

BJP Mahila Morcha national president Vanathi Srinivasan said political parties had every right to criticise their opponents but should not “insult women and reduce public life to vulgar jokes”.

“Mocking PM Narendra Modi ji and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, while Congress leaders laugh along, reflects a serious lack of political maturity,” she said.

With agency inputs