Congress leader Rahul Gandhi invited criticism from several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including union ministers and chief ministers, over his comments comparing ‘politics’ in his previous constituency Amethi and the current one, Wayanad. Calling his remarks a bid to create a ‘north, south divide’, the ruling party leaders said that ‘divide and rule politics won’t work.’

The leaders were referring to the Congress leader’s comments in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, where he said, “For the first 15 yrs, I was an MP in north. I had got used to a different type of politics. For me, coming to Kerala was very refreshing as suddenly I found that people are interested in issues and not just superficially but going into detail in issues.”

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In response, Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani, who defeated Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from UP’s Amethi, called him “ungrateful” and said the popular saying about such a person is “one without much wisdom blabbers more”.

Irani, who has bought land in Amethi and plans to construct a house there, said that history is witness to the fact that no Amethi MP ever made his house here and stayed.

Another union minister Kiren Rijiju, in his tweet, asked Gandhi not to ‘abuse Amethi and North Indians.’ “Amethi people have given so many chances to your entire family! People from every part of India are good if you are good,” the minister said.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, “I hail from the South. I am an MP from a Western state. I was born, educated and worked in the North. I represented all of India before the World. India is one. Never run down a region; never divide us.”

BJP national president JP Nadda tweeted, “A few days back he (Rahul Gandhi) was in the Northeast, spewing venom against the western part of India. Today in the South he is spewing venom against the North. Divide and rule politics won’t work, @RahulGandhi Ji! People have rejected this politics. See what happened in Gujarat today!”

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, “Look at his gall. The man who ran to Kerala to save his Lok Sabha seat questions the intelligence of North Indians, including those who faithfully voted for his family for generations! Fact is that he was forced to run because of non-performance and lack of development.”

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused Gandhi of “practising cheap politics” and resorting to regionalism.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Wherever Rahul Gandhi has landed, Congress has been grounded. Rahulji had earlier made north India free of Congress and now he has headed southwards. For us and the people, the entire country is one. Congress wants to divide the country into north and south. People will not allow these attempts to succeed,” he tweeted.