‘Manmohan Singh was there…’: Gautam Gambhir on Rahul Gandhi's ‘Panauti’ remark at PM Modi post ICC World Cup 2023 final
ICC World Cup 2023 was held at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. The finals against Australia, saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance. PM Modi had also visited the locker room and met ace cricketers Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma after the match.
Rahul Gandhi, during an election rally in Rajasthan, had said, “Our guys were playing well, they would have won the world cup. But 'Panauti' made us lose. The TV guys won't tell you this but people know." Australia had defeated India by six wickets to lift the ICC World Cup trophy at Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday." BJP MP Gautam Gambhir felt Rahul Gandhi's comment on PM Modi was unwarranted.
Gautam Gambhir also talked about 2011 World Cup semi-final, where Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then Prime Minister of the country, was in attendance to watch India take on Pakistan in Mohali. "The word that was used, 'panauti', it is probably the worst word that could've been used against anyone, particularly a prime minister of this country.
In the 2011 Cricket World Cup semi-final, Dr. Manmohan Singh was there. Had we lost that match and he had come to meet us, what would've been wrong in that?," said Gambhir in an interview with ANI.
The BJP had approached the Election Commission of India against Rahul Gandhi's ‘panauti’ jibe against PM Modi. The Election Commission (EC) had issued a show-cause notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his "panauti", "pickpocket" and "loan waiver for the super rich" jibes at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir also found himself embroiled in controversy after former pacer S Sreesanth alleged that Gautam Gambhir had called him a "fixer" during a match.
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