'BJP 3rd largest party ahead of Congress in TN': Amit Malviya hits back at Rahul Gandhi

Following the Tamil Nadu local body elections, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and head of the party's I&T department, Amit Malviya, on Wednesday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against BJP. Malviya recollected the Wayanad MP’s comment on BJP not winning in Tamil Nadu and said that the ULB elections have proved him wrong. The BJP leader said that his party was now the third-largest in the southern state ahead of Congress.

Amit Malviya said that Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi was wrong to state that the BJP would never rule the MK Stalin-led state of Tamil Nadu. “Just a few days back Rahul Gandhi held out a prophecy in Parliament that the BJP will never rule Tamil Nadu. I hope ULB elections have disabused him of such notions. BJP is now the 3rd largest party after DMK and AIADMK, ahead of the Congress,” Malviya tweeted.

Furthermore, he noted that the party put forth an overall performance in the state. “BJP won in areas it hadn’t won ever!” he added. The Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP secured over 230 posts in the urban local body elections while contesting alone in the state. BJP State president K Annamalai claimed that BJP became the third-largest party in the State post the elections, a position which was previously claimed by the Congress party.

Rahul Gandhi: 'I am a Tamil'

Earlier on February 2, Rahul Gandhi surprised everyone by claiming to be a 'Tamil', when asked why he invoked Tamil Nadu repeatedly in his Lok Sabha address. In a video, shared by a Congress member, a journalist is heard asking the question to the ex-Congress chief as he exits parliament, to which he replies 'because I am a Tamil, no'. Sparks flew in Parliament as Rahul Gandhi verbally attacked the Modi govt in his ' Motion of Thanks to the President's address.

Meanwhile, Gandhi also had created controversy by showing partiality towards voters in Kerala rather than his old constituency - Amethi. He claimed that he preferred the 'intelligent' politics in the South, rather than the caste-dominated one in UP. His comments were met with severe ire from BJP.

Image: ANI/ PTI