The Pakistan ‘hand’ in Indian LS elections: Who is Fawad Chaudhry?

ONE WAY or the other, Pakistan has been finding its way into the Indian election discourse. This time, apart from its atom bomb and how scared India should be of it, a politician from the neighbouring country has consistently made news: Fawad Chaudhry.

At different times in the long Lok Sabha poll campaign, Chaudhry has conveyed his approval of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal – enough for the BJP to see a “Pakistani design” behind the INDIA bloc.

About a month ago, Chaudhry shared a video of Rahul criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP on his social media handle, and captioned it: “Rahul on fire…”.

The BJP was ready with a quick response, saying the Congress’s “dalliance” with Pakistan couldn’t get more obvious. “Ch Fawad Hussain, who served in the Imran Khan cabinet, as Minister for Information and Broadcasting, is promoting Rahul Gandhi. Is the Congress planning to contest election in Pakistan?” BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya posted.

Modi joined soon after, saying at a rally in Gujarat: “While the Congress is dying here, Pakistan is crying there. You must have come to know that a Pakistani leader is offering prayers for the Congress. Pakistan is impatient to make shehzada (Rahul) the prime minister… And we know that the Congress is a disciple of Pakistan… The country’s enemies don’t want a strong government in Bharat.

In a recent interview to IANS, the PM said that the reason why “those who have enmity with us admire a few people… should be probed”.

Several other BJP leaders told Chaudhry to focus on the problems facing Pakistan instead.

But on May 25, as Delhi voted, Chaudhry again waded in, replying to Kejriwal’s post on X about voting with his family, saying: “May