BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that newly elected New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is part of an “anti-India lobby” spread globally, and alleged that the lobby has the support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The allegation came after Mamdani’s recent letter to Umar Khalid, the former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader who is currently incarcerated under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots case.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said that if India’s sovereignty is challenged, 140 crore Indians will stand united under PM Modi’s leadership. “If anybody comes out in support of any accused and interferes in India's internal matters, the country will not tolerate it. Who is this outsider to raise questions on our democracy and judiciary, and that too coming in support of a person who wants to break India? This is not fair,” Bhatia said at a press conference in the party’s headquarters.
Another party spokesperson, Pradeep Bhandari posted a photograph of Rahul Gandhi along with US lawmaker Janice Schakowsky and Ilhan Omar, and alleged that every time an “anti-India narrative” is “peddled” abroad, Rahul Gandhi’s name finds mention.
“In 2024, Jan Schakowsky met Rahul Gandhi in the United States, along with anti-India lawmaker Ilhan Omar. In January 2025, she reintroduced the ‘Combating International Islamophobia Act’, explicitly naming India and alleging ‘crackdowns on Muslim communities’,” Bhandari alleged in his post.
“Cut to 2026, the same Jan Schakowsky writes to the Government of India, raising ‘concerns’ over Umar Khalid – an accused under the UAPA in serious cases linked to riots and violence,” he added.