Congress's Sarcastic Post Mocking PM Modi And Pope Francis Sparks BJP Outrage

A sarcastic social media post by the Congress party's Kerala unit, mocking a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pope Francis at the G7 summit in Italy, has ignited outrage from the BJP.

The now-deleted post featured a photo of PM Modi with the Pope, captioned, "Finally, the Pope got a chance to meet God!" This comment referred to PM Modi's previous assertion that he believed he was "sent by God" for a purpose.

The BJP swiftly condemned the post, accusing Congress of disrespecting both PM Modi and the Pope.

Kerala BJP president K Surendran criticized the Congress, suggesting the Kerala Congress's social media handle was run by "radical Islamists or Urban Naxals" and demanded accountability from senior Congress leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.

Kerala BJP general secretary George Kurian labeled the post as offensive, highlighting its impact on the Christian community in Kerala, where Christianity is a major religion.

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya accused Congress of a pattern of disrespecting various faiths and demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi, emphasizing her Catholic faith.

In response, the Congress referenced Pope Francis's remark about the harmlessness of joking about God, defending their post as satirical and targeting PM Modi's public relations strategies.

Amid the backlash, the Kerala Congress deleted the post and issued an apology for any distress caused, clarifying they did not intend to insult any religion or religious figure, while maintaining their right to criticize political figures like PM Modi.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Vice-President VT Balram defended the post as satire aimed at PM Modi's self-aggrandizing statements. Congress also challenged the BJP to apologize for failing to protect Christian communities during incidents of violence, such as those in Manipur, and criticized PM Modi for his silence on such issues.