The BJP on Tuesday accused leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi of spreading a “false and dangerous narrative” among the Indian diaspora in the US by claiming that the religious freedom of Sikhs and other communities was under threat under the Narendra Modi government.

The party fielded petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri, a Sikh, to slam Rahul with other BJP leaders joining in to invoke the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to hit out at the Congress and the Gandhi family.

“I think there is something far more sinister because the people who were sitting in front of him (at the event in Virginia where Rahul referred to the Sikhs) were from my community, who are trying to work hard and eke out a living in the US…. And to them, who don’t have a strong connection with the country, Rahulji is spreading this false narrative,” Puri said.

“There are some sensitive issues, which involve our national identity, unity, strength in unity in diversity. When he speaks on such topics, it seems like he is trying to set a new, rather dangerous narrative on those things...,” he said.

At the event in the US, Rahul said that the BJP-Congress divide in India was about freedom of action and went on to refer to Sikhs in the context of religious freedom of minorities.

“The fight is not about politics. The fight is about whether a Sikh can wear his turban, or wear a kada, or go to a gurdwara. That’s what the fight is about and it is not just for Sikhs, but all religions,” Rahul said.

Puri and other BJP leaders went all out against Rahul, accusing him of defaming India on foreign soil by “peddling false narratives”.

“He says that Sikhs are facing trouble in wearing the ‘turban’ and ‘kada’ in the country. Time has come to nail this falsehood once and for all…. If there was one time in our history as a community when we felt an existential threat, it was when Rahulji’s family was in power,” Puri said, claiming that under the Modi government, Sikhs felt safer and more honoured than ever since 1947.

“I call upon my Sikh compatriots, brothers and sisters to see what kind of statement he is making and show them up for the nonsense that it is,” Puri added.

Rahul, who is on a three-day US trip, has been under attack from the BJP since Monday for his strong remarks against the party, the RSS, Modi and his government.

Ministers and BJP leaders have accused Rahul of discrediting the nation. “Rahul Gandhi is defaming and discrediting the country. He is dejected and completely disappointed by regular defeats,” Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

Minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju posted on X: “Why go abroad and expose your own shortcomings? Within the country, such immaturity might be tolerated, but what is the point of making it so evident outside? Who is attacking India in this manner?”