In a surprising and controversial move, the Kerala unit of the Indian National Congress (INC) posted on its official X (formerly Twitter) account a message that mirrored Pakistani propaganda, falsely claiming that Indian Rafale jets had been shot down. This aligns with a now-debunked narrative Pakistan had been pushing until recently, using doctored images of a supposed downed Rafale jet—images that have since been proven fake and manipulated.
What’s more troubling, at a war like situation the Congress party chose to revive old and unsubstantiated corruption allegations against the BJP over the Rafale deal that were scrutinized and dismissed in court by boasting pride.
In its 9 May 2025 post, the official INC Kerala handle stated, “We aimed at Pakistan but looks like someone else got hit instead. Rahul Gandhi objected the mass corruption in the name of Rafale. Even BJP’s defense minister Manohar Parikkar was not involved in the negotiations done by Modi and his partner Anil Ambani. Finally Mr. Parikkar resigned unable to come to terms with scale of the scandal. If it was UPA Govt in power we could have had 126 jets at lesser cost that too with technology transfer. Do you want us to dig further and expose all those leaders involved in it? Let us know when you can stomach that.”
Netizens from across the board called out the party for the timing of the post and exposed where it stood at the time of crisis. The post has been deleted at the time of publishing this article.
The exchange began when the Kerala Congress posted a celebratory message on X, saying, “Gentle reminder to Pakistan!” alongside an iconic image from the 1971 Indo-Pak war, depicting the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani troops and the creation of Bangladesh. This post was intended to highlight India’s historic military strength.
Gentle reminder to Pakistan! pic.twitter.com/FWFAJaEIZb
— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) May 8, 2025
In response, the Kerala BJP took a jab at Congress, reminding the public of Rahul Gandhi’s opposition to the Rafale jet deal. The BJP’s post read, “Gentle reminder to Congress: Rahul Gandhi didn’t want India to have Rafale jets.” The BJP emphasized that if the deal had not been fast-tracked by the current government, India wouldn’t have the critical air superiority it demonstrated in recent operations.
Gentle reminder to Congress: Rahul Gandhi didn’t want India to have Rafale Jets. https://t.co/HjlMre1oGV pic.twitter.com/XIvxSk6wIA
— BJP KERALAM (@BJP4Keralam) May 9, 2025
The Kerala Congress retaliated with its controversial 9 May post, reviving the Rafale corruption allegations—allegations that courts have already dismissed due to lack of evidence. The timing of this political back-and-forth, coinciding with rising tensions following a deadly terror attack in Kashmir and India’s retaliatory missile strikes on May 7, has raised serious concerns. Critics argue that Congress’s rhetoric undermines national unity and inadvertently aligns with discredited Pakistani narratives.
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