Congress leader Radhika Khera triggered a huge controversy linking the defeat of India's cricket team in the World T20 match against Pakistan as the defeat of 'Bhakts'. Khera, who is Congress' national media coordinator, invited sharp reactions not only from the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but also from her own party.
"Bhakts! got the taste? Managed to humiliate yourselves???" Khera said in her tweet in Hindi moments after the high-profile cricket match concluded on Sunday night.
Responding to the tweet, BJP leader Sambit Patra cornered Congress over their apparent love for the neighbouring nation.
"Congress will be happy today.. Isn't it. Now it is obvious that Congress will fight the election of 2024 from its own country and will try to make Rahul Gandhi will be a candidate for "Wazir-e-Azam"!" Patra tweeted in Hindi.
Congress leader and former Delhi CM late Sheila Dixit's son Sandeep Dixit also jumped into the duel saying that sports and politics should not be mixed.
"There should not be any politics. I am not in favour of comments for or against. Sport is a sport. It is true that there are serious issues between the governments but in sports, we should not let politics come in, whichever is the party," Sandeep Dixit said.
Virat Kohli-led Team India suffered a 10-wicket hammering by Pakistan in their opening match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday. This is for the first time that India has lost a T20 match by a huge margin of 10 wickets.
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