The Kerala unit of the Congress party has sparked a controversy following a now-deleted social media post that took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent meeting with Pope Francis in Italy.
The controversial post showed a picture of PM Modi with the Pope and the caption, “Finally, the Pope got a chance to meet God!”, which was an apparent dig at PM Modi’s earlier claim that he was “sent by God” for a purpose.
Following this, the post received backlash, leading the state unit of the Congress to remove the tweet and issue an unconditional apology. The incident has drawn sharp reactions from political rivals and sparked a broader debate on religious sensitivity and political discourse.
Reacting to the post, Kerala BJP president K Surendran accused the Congress of being managed by “radical Islamists or Urban Naxals” and criticised the party for allegedly posting derogatory content against nationalistic leaders.
He further condemned the Congress for mocking the Pope and the Christian community, calling it a new low in political rhetoric.
BJP IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya also weighed in, alleging that the Congress has a history of denigrating various faiths. He demanded an apology from former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, a practising Catholic, emphasising the irony of the Congress insulting Christians while being led by a Catholic for many years.
“After mocking the Hindus and deriding their faith, the Islamist-Marxist nexus in the Congress has now come down to insulting the Christians. This, when Sonia Gandhi, the longest serving Congress President, herself is a practising Catholic. She must apologise to the believers,” Malviya posted on X.
Echoing similar sentiments, Surendran stated, “It is now sure that urban Naxals or Radical Islamists are managing the social media of the Congress in Kerala. They can even insult the Pope. This will not happen without the knowledge of K C (Venugopal, AICC general secretary). Are Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge aware of this? Kerala has never seen such a tweet ridiculing the Christians in such a manner.”
In response, the Kerala Congress issued an apology, claiming that the party does not condone insulting any religion, clergy, or deity.“The party holds together all religions and faiths. The Congress does not have a distant thought to insult the Pope, respected by Christians across the world. At the same, the party has no hesitation to ridicule Narendra Modi, who insults the faithful in the country by claiming himself as god,” read the tweet from the Congress handle.
The Kerala Congress further accused Surendran of attempting to belittle the Christian community as one that lacks self-respect, and called on the BJP and Modi to apologise to the Christian community in Manipur.