'Same agenda': Amit Shah cites Pakistan minister's remarks to target Congress-NC alliance

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday cited comments of Pakistani minister Khwaja Asif on Jammu and Kashmir to target Congress and accuse the party of being "hand in glove with the anti-national forces".
"Pakistan's defence minister's statement about Congress and JKNC's support on Article 370 and 35A has once again exposed Congress. This statement has once again made it clear that Congress and Pakistan have the same intentions and agenda.For the last few years, Rahul Gandhi has been standing with every anti-India force, hurting the sentiments of the countrymen," Amit Shah said in a post on X.
"Be it asking for proof of air strikes and surgical strikes or saying objectionable things about the Indian Army, the tune of Rahul Gandhi's Congress Party and Pakistan has always been the same and Congress has always been hand in glove with the anti-national forces. But, Congress Party and Pakistan forget that there is Modi government at the center, hence neither Article 370 nor terrorism is going to come back in Kashmir," he added.

Shah's comments were in response to Asif's remarks, where he claimed that the Shehbaz Sharif government and the Congress-National Conference alliance in Jammu and Kashmir shared the same stance on the restoration of Article 370.

"They (the alliance) have made it an election issue. Pakistan and the National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu and Kashmir to restore Article 370 and 35A," Asif was quoted as saying in an interview.
BJP's Amit Malviya also criticized the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, sharing a video of Asif's interview.
"Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif, on Hamid Mir’s Capital Talk on Geo News says, “Pakistan and National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu & Kashmir to restore Article 370 and 35A”, he wrote on X.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also attacked Congress, saying "the cat is out of the bag". "Was there ever any doubt? For the sake of opposing PM Modi, they can even stand with Pakistan", he said.
"Congress NC ka Haath Pakistan ke Saath", he added.

Khawaja's comments have come amid the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections that are being held for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A five years ago.