Rahul Gandhi must be paid agent of Pakistan, China for using a word like 'surrender': BJP

New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday attacked Congress, saying its leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Operation Sindoor make one suspect if he is a "paid agent" of China and Pakistan.

The sally came after Gandhi, while addressing a party convention in Madhya Pradesh, alleged that Modi surrendered after a call from US President Donald Trump during the India-Pakistan military conflict.

Hitting back, BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said Gandhi "insulted" Operation Sindoor, the armed forces and the country with his comments.

"The kind of language Rahul Gandhi is using, the kind of questions Rahul Gandhi is repeatedly asking, I have full suspicion that he is a paid agent of China or Pakistan," Patra charged.

"It was the same Rahul Gandhi and his entire family who were caught spying against India under the Chinese tent during India-China logjam over Doklam," the BJP leader alleged.

Patra said no "civilised politician" or a leader of the opposition would ever use a word like "surrender" when it comes to talking about their own country.

A politician using such a word for the "motherland" cannot be a fit person in politics, he charged.

Patra said that the Pahalgam terror strike was "avenged" under Operation Sindoor with the destruction of nine terror launchpads and 11 air bases inside Pakistan.

"Despite this, Rahul Gandhi has used the word 'surrender' for Bharatvarsh and made fun of Operation Sindoor," he said, adding, "India never surrenders, Bharatvarsh never surrendered to terror." He also claimed that Modi brought about the dawn of a new "Bharat" with his coming to power in 2014.

"Those were different times when you (Congress-led UPA government) kept playing dossier-dossier (with Pakistan)... No more dossier, only dose is given today," Patra added.

Another BJP spokesperson, Shezad Poonawalla, attacked Gandhi with a "leader of Pakistani propaganda barb" and asked him to listen to Shashi Tharoor and other leaders of his party who have said there was no third-party mediation to pause Operation Sindoor.

"Rahul Gandhi has once again understood that the meaning of LoP is the leader of Pakistani propaganda. The kind of propaganda that even Pakistan was not able to do, he is doing," he said.

"Rahul Gandhi likes things which are foreign, be it a propaganda or a leader," he added.

Poonawalla said Pakistan, which has "admitted" that it was "beaten up" by India during Operation Sindoor, was "pleading" with India to stop military action.

"Rahul Gandhi, believe in what the DGMO said, what the Ministry of External Affairs said -- If not them, at least believe in Shashi (Tharoor), Manish (Tewari) and Salman (Khurshid). They have said that no mediation happened, India did not call up (Pakistan), their DGMO reached out to India," the BJP spokesperson said.