Khushbu's old tweet calling 'Modi' trio corrupt resurfaces, Congress calls for defamation case

BJP leader Khushbu Sundar has defended her five-year-old tweet, in which she likened corruption-accused businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The tweet, made when Khushbu was a member of the Congress party, has become viral in the context of the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament following his conviction in a defamation case.

Gandhi was convicted by a Surat court based on a complaint over his remark during an election rally in 2019. In his speech, Gandhi had said, 'Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?' before naming fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi and the banned former boss of the Indian Premier League, Lalit Modi, besides PM Modi.

Khushbu's tweet was allegedly on similar lines. “Yahan #Modi wahan #Modi jahan dekho #Modi..lekin yeh kya?? Har #Modi ke aage #bhrashtachaar surname laga hua hai..toh baat ko no samjho..#Modi mutlab #bhrashtachaar..let's change the meaning of #Modi to corruption..suits better..#Nirav #Lalit #Namo = corruption,” Khushbu tweeted on February 15, 2018. (bhrashtachaar is the Hindi word for corruption)

Khushbu, who back then was a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW), has claimed she was speaking the 'language of the leader', Rahul Gandhi and that she will not delete it.

“I will not delete my tweet. It’s out there. There are many more. Pls use your time, as CONgress (sic) is absolutely jobless, to dig out a few more. BTW I like to see how the CONgress is putting me and @RahulGandhi on the same platform. I like the fact that I have earned enough name n respect to be at par with him, who claims to be the opp. Leader of the nation. Thank you CONgress,” tweeted Khushbu on Saturday.

“And some learned leaders of the CONgress need to know I am not the spokesperson of my party. Atleast do some homework to save yourself from an embarrassment. It’s like CONgress will give you an agenda to attack n you do it blindly. Nothing has changed n nothing will. No wonder they are failing miserably.

“How more desperate can they be!! A 5 yr old tweet is what now @INCIndia is taking to defend themselves? I as a spokesperson for the CONgress than was speaking the same language of @RahulGandhi. Just followed the line of this man. Why raise a question to my party? File a case on me if you dare to. Learn the difference between corruption and a thief.”

Khusbhu, who quit Congress and joined BJP in 2020, is a national executive committee member of the saffron party. The popular Tamil actor was initially associated with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) before joining the Congress.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter: "will you make one of your disciples named Modi file a defamation case against Khushbu Sundar too?"
(With PTI inputs)