(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) As the national capital of India voted in the sixth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, former Pakistani Minister Fawad Chaudhry expressed support for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who cast his vote with his family on Saturday.
"May peace and harmony defeat forces of hate and extremism," wrote Chaudhry on social media platform X, in a show of support for Kejriwal and a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In response,
Kejriwal asserted that India is fully capable of addressing its own issues and that the Pakistani leader's supportive tweet was unwelcome.
"The situation in Pakistan is very bad right now. You should take care of your own country," Kejriwal wrote.
“The elections taking place in India are our internal matter. India will not tolerate interference from the biggest sponsors of terrorism,” he added.
Earlier in the day, posting a picture of his family after exercising his franchise, the Delhi chief minister wrote,“I voted today with my father, wife and children. My mother is is very ill. She could not go. I voted against dictatorship, unemployment and inflation. You too must go and vote.”
Notably, this is not the first time Fawad Chaudhry, who openly admitted to Pakistan's hand in the deadly Pulwama terror attack in 2019, has shown support for Kejriwal.
Reacting to Kejriwal's bail earlier this month in a money laundering case linked to an alleged liquor excise policy, Chaudhry described the events of May 10 in New Delhi as "good news for moderate India." The Delhi CM was released from Tihar after spending over 50 days in custody, following the Supreme Court's decision to grant him interim bail for election campaigning in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. He was ordered to surrender on June 2.
“Modi G Lost another battle #Kejriwal released... good news for moderate India,” the Pakistani leader posted on X.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 this year in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor scam. While granting interim bail, the Supreme Court imposed strict conditions, including restrictions on visiting the Office of the Chief Minister or the Delhi Secretariat and prohibiting contact with witnesses.
Before this, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry praised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his party's promise to conduct a wealth redistribution survey if elected to power. Chaudhry compared Rahul Gandhi to his great-grandfather, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, noting that "both were socialists."
Chaudhry's praise for Rahul Gandhi came shortly after he shared a video of the Congress MP criticizing the BJP-led Centre over the 'pran pratishtha' of Ayodhya's Ram Temple. In response, PM Narendra Modi commented on Chaudhry's praise, stating that the "partnership" between Pakistan and Congress had been exposed.
"Look at the coincidence, today Congress is getting weak in India. The funny thing is that here Congress is dying and there Pakistan is crying. Now Pakistani leaders are praying for Congress. Pakistan is eager to make the prince the Prime Minister and we already know that Congress is a fan of Pakistan. This partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been completely exposed," PM Modi had said while addressing a public rally in Gujarat's Anand.
It's worth noting that in October 2020, Chaudhry
admitted that Pakistan was responsible for the deadly Pulwama terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 that brought the two countries to the brink of a war.
“Humne Hindustan ko ghus ke maara (We hit India in their home). Our success in Pulwama, is a success of this nation under the leadership of Imran Khan. You and us are all part of that success,” the then Science & Technology Minister had said in the National Assembly during a debate.
In the pre-dawn hours of February 26, 2019, Indian Air Force jets conducted airstrikes on terrorist camps belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Balakot, located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. This operation was a response to the Pulwama terrorist attack, which resulted in the tragic loss of 40 CRPF personnel's lives.
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