NEW DELHI - The arrest of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at Lahore airport Friday has triggered a war of words between the Congress and the BJP, with both the parties taking to social networking sites to attack each other. The Congress Saturday tweeted an old photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharif holding hands and asked: “Nawaz Sharif has been arrested on corruption charges. We’d like to know what his dear friend, PM Modi has to say about this.” ADVERTISEMENT
The Congress had earlier criticised Modi for his unscheduled visit to Pakistan in December, 2015. Modi had made a surprise stop over in Lahore while returning from Afghanistan that year and had attended the Sharif’s granddaughter’s wedding ceremony and held talks with him.
In a sharp retort to the Congress, the BJP, said people in India were asking when the leaders, who were out on bail, will go to jail. “Pradhan Mantri ji, every Indian (is) saying that those leaders who are roaming around on bail (in) India too should also go to jail,” a tweet posted on the BJP’s official handle said.
While addressing a rally in Jaipur last week, Modi had called the Congress a “bail-gaadi”, while referring to the leaders from the opposition party’s who were out on bail. The MEA has so far not commented on the arrest of Sharif.