Giriraj Singh Accuses Rahul Gandhi of Trusting China and Pakistan Over India

Union Minister Giriraj Singh unleashed a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, following the latter's query about the Uttar Pradesh government's supposed underreporting of deaths in a stampede at Maha Kumbh Mela.

Singh blamed Gandhi for always relying on foreign reports that, he claimed, hurt India's image abroad.

"Rahul Gandhi believes the Chinese embassy, Pakistani embassy, and BBC reports but does not believe his own nation.". This is the true reflection of Rahul Gandhi’s credibility,” Singh said, reacting to a recent social media post by the Leader of Opposition. “Whether it’s about Operation Sindoor or some BBC report, he always chooses words that go against the interests of India. It’s as if he has pledged to constantly speak against the nation,” the minister added.

The row started when Rahul Gandhi quoted a BBC report earlier this week, alleging that the actual number of deaths in the stampede at the religious congregation was being hidden by the state government.

On X (formerly Twitter), Gandhi posted, "BBC report exposes how numbers of those who died in Kumbh Mela stampede were covered up. As in COVID, the poor's bodies were wiped out of the numbers. As after each major train disaster, the truth is kept under wraps.

Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he went further to say, "This is the BJP model -- if there is no counting of the poor, then there is no accountability either!"

Gandhi's statement provoked a vehement response from BJP leaders, with several of them accusing him of consistently doubting Indian institutions and turning instead to foreign media reports to inform his opinions.

Akhilesh Yadav, leader of the Samajwadi Party, also chipped in, joining Gandhi in his condemnation by citing the same BBC investigation. Refraining from naming anybody outright, Yadav stated that people who manipulate or conceal information from the public cannot be trusted.

BBC news at the centre of the controversy reported that 82 individuals had died in the stampede—significantly higher than the official death toll of 37 published by the Uttar Pradesh government.