BJP leader's old tweet viral as Rahul Gandhi convicted, disqualified

In 2018, Khushbu Sundar who is now a BJP leader said the meaning of Modi should be changed into corruption. The tweet resurfaced after Rahul Gandhi was convicted for his Modi surname comment and was disqualified from the Lok Sabha.

As Rahul Gandhi has now been suspended from the Lok Sabha, following his conviction by a Surat court in a 2019 defamation case for saying 'how come all thieves have common Modi surname', an old tweet of actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar is viral. In 2018, when Khushbu was in Congress, she tweeted, "Yahan Modi wahan Modi jahan dekho Modi...lekin yeh kya? Har Modi ke aage bhrastachar surname laga hua hai....#Modi mutlab #bhrashtachaar..let's change the meaning of #Modi to corruption..suits better..#Nirav #Lalit #Namo = corruption.." 

Several Congress social media accounts shared the screenshot of the still available tweet and questioned whether Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi will file a case against Khushbu Sundar -- now a BJP leader and a member of the National Commission for Women.

A Surat court on Thursday (23 March) ordered a two-year sentence to Rahul Gandhi for his Modi surname comment and on Friday (March 24), Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha. This has triggered a massive political row with all opposition parties condemning the decision as a political vendetta.

The Congress announced a nationwide agitation against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha while the party will challenge the Surat court order in a higher court.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="hi" dir="ltr">मोदी जी <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@narendramodi</a> क्या आप <a href="https://twitter.com/khushsundar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@khushsundar</a> पर भी मान हानि का मुक़दमा मोदी नाम वाले अपने किसी शिष्य से दायर करवाएँगे? अब तो वे <a href="https://twitter.com/BJP4India?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BJP4India</a> की सदस्य हैं। देखते हैं। धन्यवाद <a href="https://twitter.com/zoo_bear?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@zoo_bear</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/INCIndia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@INCIndia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RahulGandhi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RahulGandhi</a> <a href="https://t.co/qIibuycY6n">https://t.co/qIibuycY6n</a></p>&mdash; digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) <a href="https://twitter.com/digvijaya_28/status/1639438259196686338?ref_src=twsr...">March 25, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In court, Rahul Gandhi's counsel did not ask for mercy but defended that the comment was not intentional and did not hurt the complainant Purnesh Modi. A similar defamation case against Rahul Gandhi was brought in Patna by Sushil Modi who said he too was hurt by Rahul Gandhi's comment.

Khushbu Sundar has not commented on her old tweet, nor deleted it. On Rahul Gandhi's suspension from the Lok Sabha, the BJP leader said, "He had said few days back that he is unfortunately a parliamentarian. His words have come true. Moral of the story: think positive. Negativity takes you nowhere".

"Manmohan Singh ji wanted to bring in an ordinance on SC judgment passed in 2013. @RahulGandhi tore it into pieces. Ironically, his disqualification comes from the same judgment. #Karma," Khushbu tweeted.