Congress leader and spokesperson Pawan Khera intended to criticize External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar on social media platform X, but ended up targeting a BJP worker from Kerala—S. Jayashankar—mistaking him for the minister. The confusion came after Jayashankar criticized the Congress for the list of MPs it nominated to represent India in a diplomatic outreach programme countering Pakistan’s terrorism narrative.
On 17 May 2025, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh posted on X that, “Yesterday morning, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju spoke with the Congress President and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The INC was asked to submit names of 4 MPs for the delegations to be sent abroad to explain India’s stance on terrorism from Pakistan. By noon yesterday May 16th, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha wrote to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs giving the following names on behalf of the INC.
- Shri Anand Sharma, former Union Cabinet Minister
- Shri Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha
- Dr. Syed Naseer Hussain, Rajya Sabha MP
- Shri Raja Brar, Lok Sabha MP”
Yesterday morning, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju spoke with the Congress President and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The INC was asked to submit names of 4 MPs for the delegations to be sent abroad to explain India's stance on terrorism from…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 17, 2025
Soon after, BJP karyakarta S. Jayashankar responded with a scathing post, stating, “Thanks for letting the nation know that you guys basically omitted your 2 best speakers in Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor for people like Gaurav Gogoi who is known to have close ties with Pakistan and Syed Nassar Hussain whose victory resulted in “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans. Throughout the history, Congress has always favored Pakistan over India. Hence this list doesn’t come as a surprise.”
Thanks for letting the nation know that you guys basically omitted your 2 best speakers in Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor for people like Gaurav Gogoi who is known to have close ties with Pakistan and Syed Nassar Hussain whose victory resulted in "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans.… https://t.co/F4bR6fD524
— S.Jayashankar (@jaypanicker) May 17, 2025
However, the post was wrongly attributed to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar by Pawan Khera, who reacted with a blistering critique, “Ladies & gentlemen, this is your External Affairs Minister. Sitting on the debris of India’s failed foreign policy, he indulges in baseless character assassination of two bright young MPs. His own fabled closeness to America has only raised eyebrows—not India’s interests…”
Jayashankar, the BJP worker, hit back at the Congress leader in a now-deleted post with a mocking reply, “Dear @Pawankhera, The fact that you are not able to differentiate between a gray tick and blue tick shows how seriously we have to take your statements. And regarding your MPs, whatever I have stated is based on facts. So instead of indulging in character assassination it will be better if you can counter me on facts and also explain why your party prefers appeasement over merit.“
Dear @Pawankhera,
The fact that you are not able to differentiate between a gray tick and blue tick shows how seriously we have to take your statements.And regarding your MPs, whatever I have stated is based on facts. So instead of indulging in character assassination it will… https://t.co/qdsYqRpYu2 pic.twitter.com/oX13hlBRDu
— S.Jayashankar (@jaypanicker) May 18, 2025
The entire episode triggered widespread ridicule on social media, with netizens mocking Khera for his blunder and highlighting the Congress party’s repeated social media missteps.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 A party full of Jokers @INCIndia pic.twitter.com/6hCdvw7iD9
— Indhavaainko (இந்தாவாய்ங்கோ) 👊 (@indhavaainko) May 18, 2025
Ladies & gentlemen, this is Chairman of Media & Publicity Dept of @INCIndia, alleged Tapasvi @Pawankhera who doesn't know the handle of External Affairs Minister.
He still wants a RS ticket.
U never know.
Just to make @RahulGandhi look smarter, he might be given a ticket. pic.twitter.com/00ogQQPKo8
— Suresh Nakhua 🇮🇳 (@SureshNakhua) May 18, 2025
Now we know why Pawan Khera is called Nitwit Khera for a reason:):)
This Nitwit cannot distinguish between a blue tick &a grey tick
Maybe he is colour blind:)
This Nitwit cannot even distinguish
S. Jaishankar from S. Jayashankar:)And then Khera whines,why he is laughed at:) pic.twitter.com/RO8n0dIv6l
— Sanju Verma (@Sanju_Verma_) May 18, 2025
Pawan khera quoting a parody account 🤡 pic.twitter.com/lDwW5k8r1R
— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) May 18, 2025
Tapasvi @Pawankhera quoted a different S Jayashankar saying he's India's Foreign Minister.
They are so blind in doing chep politics that they don't even check the truth before posting. pic.twitter.com/8IVbuIu481
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) May 18, 2025
This is Pawan Khera from Congress Party, Who thinks everyone with the name S.Jayashankar is External Affairs Minister.
He doesn't understand the difference between Grey and Blue 🫢🫢🫢😅😅😅 pic.twitter.com/zO7Bii9HCm
— KV Iyyer – BHARAT 🇮🇳🇮🇱 (@BanCheneProduct) May 18, 2025
So Pawan Khera doesn’t know the handle of EAM 😂 pic.twitter.com/usq0Oqav20
— Vijay (@centerofright) May 18, 2025
Oh dear @Pawankhera , This is the Pro Max of silly things you do.
You are not even able to read properly & jumped to spew your usual venom.🤦🏽♂️
He is “Jai Shankar” I know it is difficult for u people to say, chant or read but that’s how u have to. pic.twitter.com/kxmWZxOpBj— Ashwin johar (@joharashwin) May 18, 2025
Why did you delete this? You’re not able to differentiate between a grey tick and a blue tick and you expect people to take your party statements seriously? 😂 pic.twitter.com/Syou0cil0K
— Shilpa (@shilpa_cn) May 18, 2025
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