Congress Slams PM Modi's Letter To Sunita Williams, Evokes Her Cousin Haren Pandya's 'Murder' Post 2002 Riots

The Congress party has ignited a debate on social media following a post suggesting that astronaut Sunita Williams would discard Prime Minister Narendra Modi's congratulatory letter.

Williams' father, Deepak Pandya, hailed from Jhulasan village in the Mehsana district and she is a cousin of former BJP minister Haren Pandya, who was assassinated during his routine morning walk on March 26, 2003.

"Modi pens a letter to Sunita Williams, and in all likelihood, she will put it in trash. Why?" the Congress party stated.

The Kerala unit of Congress took to X, saying: "She is Haren Pandya's cousin. Haren Pandya was the Gujarat home minister who challenged Modi, and he gave a secret deposition to Justice VR Krishnaiyer about Modi's role in the Gujarat riots, following which he was murdered during a 'Morning Walk'. There were several serial murders following Pandya's death which ended in the murder of Justice Loya."

The party accused PM Modi of having ignored Sunita Williams in 2007 despite her being the most renowned non-resident Gujarati at the time, claiming that his outreach now was merely a performative gesture.

Haren Pandya, known for his deep RSS ties and political clout, had served as a cabinet minister under Keshubhai Patel and continued in office when Narendra Modi became Chief Minister in 2001.

PM Modi's Letter to Sunita Williams

PM Modi penned a letter to Williams on March 1, writing: "I convey to you greetings from the people of India. At a programme today, I met the noted astronaut, Mr. Mike Massimino. During the course of our conversation, your name came up and we discussed how proud we are of you and your work. Following this interaction, I could not stop myself from writing to you."

The Prime Minister further mentioned that he had inquired about her when meeting both President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden during his recent visits to the US.