Rahul Gandhi's comments on Monday about a "compromised" Election Commission - while interacting with diaspora in Boston - has triggered a furious squabble back home.
The BJP called the Congress MP a "serial offender" and "agent of George Soros", and accused him "defaming" the country, while the opposition party insisted its rival can't always cry 'defamation'.
Mr Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had referred to last year's Maharashtra Assembly election to claim - "there is something very wrong with the system".
"More people voted in Maharashtra than the total number of people in Maharashtra... and this is a fact. The Election Commission gave us a figure in the evening... two hours later, around 7.30 pm, 65 lakh voters voted, which is physically impossible..." Mr Gandhi said at the meeting.
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"It is very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised... and there is something very wrong with the system. I have said this multiple times, " the Congress leader said.
The BJP's response was swift and angry; Shehzad Poonawalla, the party's National Spokesperson, said Mr Gandhi's aim was to "humiliate" the country while abroad.
A second BJP spokesperson, Pradeep Bhandari, slammed Mr Gandhi as "an agent of George Soros", referring to the American Hungarian billionaire philanthropist who, the ruling party has frequently claimed, funds 'anti-India' media narratives that are propagated by the Congress.
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"Why does Rahul always defame India on foreign soil? An agent of George Soros who is fighting the Indian state - that's what Rahul Gandhi's intent today is," Mr Bhandari said on X.
And BJP leader Sambit Patra also weighed in - with a reminder about other instances in which Mr Gandhi, during events abroad, criticised the ruling party or Indian institutions. "... since the morning, there are two important news items, one is Rahul Gandhi's old habit of insulting the country on foreign soil. This is not a new thing. He has been doing this for a long time," he said.
The BJP leader also referred to the National Herald case - i.e., money laundering allegations surrounding Mr Gandhi and his mother and former Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi - and claimed the party is trying to "create an atmosphere of unrest" to divert attention from the case.
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Mr Gandhi, Mrs Gandhi, and other Congress leaders have been named by the Enforcement Directorate in a chargesheet to be heard by a Delhi court later this week.
The Congress has alleged potential fraud in the 2024 Maharashtra election, in which the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition recorded a thumping win, months after being nearly routed in the Lok Sabha poll.
In the latter the Mahayuti won only 17 of 48 parliamentary seats, but the alliance rebounded to sweep 235 of 288 Assembly seats.
The Congress and its allies had claimed that between 60 and 70 lakh voters had "suddenly arrived in Maharashtra" before the election. The EC later clarified the increased numbers were "normal", and that it had functioned transparently in registering new voters, as it does in every state before every election.
The allegations had led to an angry response from the BJP, which pointed to the Congress' ally, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, winning the Jharkhand election that was held at the same time.
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That point was repeated on Monday; the BJP demanded to know if JMM boss and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had influenced election results in his state, or if Mr Gandhi's sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had swayed results in the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-poll she won.
This is Mr Gandhi's second US visit since a trip September last year.
The BJP criticised him then too, for meeting with US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, whom the BJP's Amit Malviya labelled "a Pak-sponsored anti-India voice, radical Islamist, and advocate of independent Kashmir". "Even Pak leaders would be more circumspect about being seen with such rabid elements."
With input from agencies
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