Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday
sparked a row on Twitter after she responded to a tweet by asking for
votes for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
It began with
a tweet from the president of the All India United Democratic Front, M
Badruddin Ajmal, who thanked her for India’s decision to vote against
the United States’ Jerusalem move at the United Nations.
Swaraj then replied saying: “Thank you, Ajmal Sahib. Now you vote for us.”
Swaraj’s tweet was met with a strong response from the Assam leader and several other Twitter users.
“Our
vote is always for India, Madam,” Ajmal responded. “The day BJP does
not differentiate between the majority and minority community, our vote
will be for you.”
Here are some other reactions to Swaraj’s tweet:
The Jerusalem vote
India and 127 other members of the 193-strong United Nations
General Assembly voted in favour of a resolution, which asked the US to
withdraw its decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
The
overwhelming vote against the US came even after US President Donald
Trump threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in
favour of the resolution.
Trump’s announcement broke with
years of precedent on the sensitive subject and sparked bloody protests
in the Israeli-Palestinian region.
Israel considers
Jerusalem an indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there.
Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be
East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and annexed.
A
majority of countries do not recognise Israel’s claim to the whole of
Jerusalem, where several Christian, Muslim and Jewish holy sites are
located.
The US had vetoed a draft of this resolution at the UN Security Council earlier this week.