Prakash Javadekar's remark left him facing questions that some reporters say he failed to answer clearly.
Attacking Rahul Gandhi over his Kashmir comments, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today wondered whether "his election from Wayanad had changed his mindset". The comment left him facing questions that some reporters said he had failed to answer clearly.
"I am surprised... How far will vote bank politics go baba. Just because he won from Wayanad, does that mean his soch (mindset) has also changed," Mr Javadekar said, targeting the Congress leader at a press conference.
"Would the Misinformation Minister @PrakashJavdekar care to explain what he means when he says 'Wayanad se jeete toh soch bhi badli," the Congress tweeted.
Prodded on his comments by the media, Mr Javadekar said his remarks were not about the constituency but its representative.
What was it about Wayanad, reporters asked the senior BJP leader.
"When he used to win from Amethi (Rahul Gandhi's three-time constituency, which he lost in 2019), he would not talk like this," Mr Javadekar replied.
Pressed to clarify, he said: "All I am saying is his seat has changed, so mindset has changed. There is nothing wrong with Wayanad. What is wrong is with the representative from Wayanand."
Rahul Gandhi contested the national election from two constituencies for the first time; he lost from his traditional Amethi constituency but won from Wayanad in Kerala, which has a significant population of minorities.
This morning, the Congress leader put out tweets saying: "I disagree with this government on many issues. But, let me make this absolutely clear: Kashmir is India's internal issue and there is no room for Pakistan or any other foreign country to interfere in it. There is violence in Jammu and Kashmir. There is violence because it is instigated and supported by Pakistan which is known to be the prime supporter of terrorism across the world."
This was after a Pakistani minister tweeted what he said was a letter to the UN on Jammu and Kashmir, quoting Mr Gandhi's criticism of the situation in Kashmir.
Accusing Mr Gandhi of shaming India with comments that had been used by Pakistan before the UN, Mr Javadekar said: "Rahul Gandhi today stated that Kashmir is an internal matter and violence is linked to Pakistan, a complete u-turn, why? Because the nation was enraged, they wanted him to."