New Delhi: The BJP Thursday dismissed as a “blatant lie” Rahul Gandhi’s allegation that the government does not let foreign dignitaries meet him, the Leader of Opposition, saying he had met many foreign guests, including the prime ministers of New Zealand and Mauritius, this year.
In a post on X, BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni shared pictures of Gandhi from meetings with these foreign dignitaries and said, “During any visit, MEA organises meetings for the visiting dignitary with government officials and government bodies.”
He added, “Organising meetings outside the government depends on the visiting delegation.”
The rebuttal came after Gandhi alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the Leader of the Opposition due to its “insecurity.”
The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha said it has been a tradition that visiting foreign dignitaries meet the LoP, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs were not following the norm.
Baluni, a Lok Sabha MP, said Gandhi had met at least five foreign guests, including heads of state, in just one and a half years, and met many foreign guests earlier as well.
He said Gandhi met former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina June 10, 2024, Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim August 21, 2024, Prime Minister of Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam September 16, 2025, and Prime Minister of New Zealand Christopher Luxon on March 8, 2025.
“The LOP also met the PM of Vietnam August 1, 2024,” Baluni said, posting pictures of the Congress leader meeting these foreign dignitaries on X.
Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party MP Priyanka Gandhi were present with Rahul at some of these meetings, the pictures shared by the BJP leader show.
“These pictures can’t be fake, Rahul Gandhi ji,” Baluni said, adding, the photographs proved that the LoP is “simply lying.”
“However, whenever you go to foreign soil, you always end up tarnishing the image of India, India’s democracy, and India’s Constitution,” Baluni charged.
BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said that Gandhi tried to dent the country’s image by making “baseless” allegations against the government, and stoked a controversy on the day Russian President Vladimir Putin was on a visit to India.
“This does not present India in a good light…We do not expect this from Rahul Gandhi. He is an LoP, and the LoP should always behave responsibly,” the BJP MP told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
Patra asserted that there was no reason for the government to have any sense of insecurity from Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family.
“Absolutely not. He is overestimating himself,” the BJP leader said in a dig at Gandhi.
Patra also took exception to Gandhi speaking about “another perspective” that he was allegedly bereft of presenting to the foreign leaders.
“The perspective that he gives during his foreign visits, like India’s economy is dead, no development happening in India… Is this the perspective he wants to present to the world?” the BJP leader asked.