Following Congress’s embarrassing defeats in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan assembly elections, they are facing a lot of criticism. Now, former Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria has also taken a dig at the party. Kaneria posted, “Who is Panauti (bad omen/unlucky charm),” without taking any names.
Panauti kaun? 😂
— Danish Kaneria (@DanishKaneria61) December 3, 2023
On 21st November, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India’s loss in the ODI Cricket World Cup Final. He contended that PM Modi, whom he described as ‘Panauti’, caused the Indian cricket team to lose the final match of the esteemed tournament. Rahul Gandhi claimed, “Modi comes on TV and says ‘Hindu- Muslim’ and sometimes goes to a cricket match. It is a different matter that the match was lost. Panauti.”
The Congress scion added, “Our boys were almost winning the World Cup, but the ‘Panauti’ made them lose.” Multiple party leaders including their spokespersons, Dr Ragini Nayak, and their official X (formerly Twitter) handle also started mocking the prime minister and trended ‘Panauti’ on social media.
PM Modi was accompanied by Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, which was a scheduled event as part of India’s reformed ‘Cricket Diplomacy.’ Indian side, which remained undefeated throughout the tournament, lost by six wickets in the final encounter with Australia on 19th November in Ahmedabad.
However, Union Minster Amit Shah said, “Whenever they have abused PM Modi, the public has given them an answer by voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party. I am confident that we will form a government in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and do extremely well in Telangana,” while addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on 25th November. Interestingly, his forecast seems to have come true.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders are also coming forward to express their dissent over their party’s poor election performance. Congress leader and political advisor to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has attributed the defeat to the party’s anti-Hindu stance, and opposition to Lord Ram. Furthermore, he mentioned that hurling personal jabs at PM Modi also hurt Congress’ prospects in the polls.
Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to form governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan while Congress has secured an easy victory in Telangana.
