Hours after Joe Biden was declared the 46th president-elect of the United States, riot convicted Congress leader Hardik Patel and senior Congress leader Manish Tewari attempted to spread lies that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had endorsed President Trump for the 2020 US Presidential elections.
Taking to Twitter, Hardik Patel, who is currently the working president of Gujarat Congress, congratulated the President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and said that he was confident that Biden will unite America and provide it with a strong sense of direction.
Hardik Patel, soon after expressing his wishes to Biden, resorted to peddling blatant lies by claiming that last year Prime Minister Modi had proclaimed on American soil “Ab ki Baar, Trump Sarkar” to allege that it was a clear case of interference in other nations’ internal affairs.
“I hope India and Indians do not have to pay the price of this misadventure under the Biden-Harris administration,” said Hardik Patel in an attempt to politicise the issues of India-US ties.
Hardik Patel then went on to ask for forgiveness on behalf of 130 crore Indians. He also added that he was certain that the country will work earnestly with the new Government of the United States of America.
Not just Hardik Patel, Congress MP Manish Tewari also took to Twitter to share a news report saying PM Modi cheered for Donald Trump in Houston by saying ‘Abki baar, Trump sarkar’, and attempted to spread same lies as Patel. Typing in all capitals, Tewari accused PM Modi of picking sides in the internal democratic processes of another nations. He claimed that he hoped that it did not come back to haunt India.
Did PM Modi really endorse Donald Trump?
Contrary to the claims made by the Congress leaders saying that Prime Minister Modi had endorsed Donald Trump for the US Presidential elections, PM Modi had never endorsed or tried to interfere in the 2020 US elections. The claims made by Patel and Tewari are misleading as PM Modi was just referring to a campaign run by Donald Trump campaign team prior to 2016 US Presidential elections.
At the mega ‘Howdy Modi’ event held in Houston in September last year, Texas, Prime Minister Modi had reminded the audience as to how during the 2016 US Presidential campaigning, Donald Trump had said ‘Abki Baar Trump Sarkar’ while appealing to Indian diaspora in the US.
#WATCH PM Narendra Modi: We in India have connected well with President Trump, the words of candidate Trump, ‘Ab ki baar Trump sarkar’, rang loud and clear. pic.twitter.com/9WPq9w7eKf
— ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2019
PM Modi said, “We in India have connected well with President Trump, the words of candidate Trump, ‘Abki baar Trump sarkar’, rang loud and clear.” In October 2016, during the US Presidential campaigning, the then Presidential candidate Trump had said that the Indian and Hindu community in the US will have a ‘friend’ in the White House. Then, using Prime Minister Modi’s 2014 popular election slogan “Abki baar, Modi Sarkar”, Donald Trump had said, “Abki baar, Trump Sarkar” (This time, it will be a Trump government).
While addressing the Indian diaspora in the US, Prime Minister Modi had recalled the above campaign slogan by Trump, contrary to the claim that he was endorsing Donald Trump ahead of the 2020 US elections.
However, Congress leaders like Hardik Patel and Manish Tewari attempted to spread lies on social media that PM Modi endorsed President Trump for the 2020 US Presidential elections to create a divide between two countries.
Congress-friendly people also spread the lie
Other Congress-friendly journalists and media personalities as well as politicians also joined in to spread the lies that PM Modi had endorsed Trump for President.
Both true: 1. Modi should not have all-but-endorsed Trump by saying “ab ki baar, Trump sarkar” at the Houston Howdy Modi rally. It was poor form and bad judgment. 2. US-India relations are deep, complex and multifaceted. They will not be derailed by a gaffe.
— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) November 6, 2020
Exactly. Who can forget that cringeworthy gathering of Howdies and the Abki baar Trump Sarkar!
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) November 6, 2020
Former Congress leader and now Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi too spread the lies.You went to US and campaigned for Trump and said 'Abki baar Trump ki sarkar'. Do you think Democrats will forget that?
— Spirit of Congress ✋ (@SpiritOfCongres) November 7, 2020
Other anti-Modi people also jumped on to the bandwagon.Going by the trends, our foreign ministry will need to work hard to rework equation with Democrats, after all India had unofficially launched Namaste Trump campaign&slogans like Abki baar Trump Sarkar no less by PM himself.
— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) November 5, 2020
It was an individual driven Trump-sided relation.
Former CPI(Marxist) leader used to write speeches for former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He also acted as strategist for BJP stalwart L K Advani. AAPians also did not want to be left behind in spreading lies.Abki Baar, NO #Trump Sarkar!
— Sudheendra Kulkarni (@SudheenKulkarni) November 7, 2020
Let that now sink in.
Agli Baar, NO Sarkar of the one divisive leader who (predictably) campaigned for another divisive leader! pic.twitter.com/MM4F0vyC6B
Neither did TMC leadersCongratulations from Doland Trump's Friend.
— Kapil (@kapsology) November 7, 2020
Abki baar Trump Sarkar waale
The Prime Minister of India was an active participant in the Donald Trump election campaign.
— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) November 6, 2020
Video proof.#USElections2020 pic.twitter.com/IDk6FfdSIz
Congress lies about PM Modi endorsing Donald Trump
This is not the first time that the Congress party and its media ecosystem have been spreading such lies against PM Modi.
Last year, soon after Howdy Modi’ event, the Congress leaders and its media ecosystem had spread same lies and had claimed that PM Modi was dangerously interfering in the US elections.
Congress MP Anand Sharma had accused the Prime Minister of ‘actively campaigning for Trump’ and reminded him that he was in the US as India’s Prime Minister and not a ‘star campaigner in the US elections.’
Even media had joined the Congress to spread misinformation about PM Modi’s alleged endorsement. Malini Parthasarathy, The Hindu co-chairperson, also dubbed this as ‘virtual endorsement’ of Donald Trump for reelections. Even Bloomberg, too, had misinterpreted and misrepresented the slogan used by Modi as endorsement for Trump for 2020.