Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday called BJP a ‘party of terrorists,’ as he hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent remarks that the grand old party is being run by a ‘gang of urban Naxals’.
He also accused those in the saffron party of ‘lynching and beating’ people, and committing atrocities against SC/STs.
Kharge’s remarks had come in response to comments made by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who labelled Congress leaders as ‘urban Naxals,’ a term frequently used by the BJP to describe those they believe are a threat to the national integrity.
Kharge had accused the BJP of violence against minorities. “They lynch and assault people, urinate in the mouths of members of the Scheduled Castes, and rape tribals,” he stated.
He added that the BJP’s past silence was broken only after their recent electoral win in Haryana, claiming, “The BJP is a party of terrorists.”
“He (Modi) has always been saying it, even now he is saying it. Till now he was silent, after getting a bit of life now, he is saying Urban Naxals. He calls intellectual and progressive people ‘Urban Naxals,’ he also calls Congress (Urban Naxals), this is his habit,” Kharge said in response to a question on Modi’s comments.
“Modi has no right, wherever his party-led government is there, atrocities happen there on scheduled class people, especially on tribal people. Then he (Modi) says injustice is happening. Is the government ours (Congress)? It is your (BJP) government, you can control. But Modi’s habit is to speak. He speaks less about country and people, more about party,” he added.
Hitting back at Kharge’s remarks, senior Karnataka BJP leader and MLC N Ravikumar said terrorism and Naxal activities have come down in the country by about 80-90 percent, and challenged for a survey and debate on – who is pro-terrorist – comparing 10 years of Modi government at the Centre with 10 years of Manmohan Singh rule.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Congress has made insulting the public and the Prime Minister a habit.
“Congress ki pehchaan, janta ka apmaan” (insulting the people is the identity of Congress), he said.
Poonawalla also criticised Congress for blaming external factors for their electoral defeat and referred to a statement by senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, who called voters “rakshasi” (demonic). He argued, “This shows the character and the DNA of Congress.”
“They put ‘parivar tantra’ (family system) about everything else. For their Haryana defeat, they have blamed EVMs, the Election Commission, and then the people. They have called the public ‘rakshasi’ (demonic) – senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala has said this,” he stated.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi criticised Congress, accusing them of having a “maligned” mindset.
“If he says that he is progressive and PM Modi is calling him an urban Naxal, then I want to ask him if four wives, triple Talaq, Mehram, Halala and Hijab are progressive or not. Supporting all of this and only making inappropriate statements against Hinduism shows the urban naxal mentality of your party,” Trivedi stated.
Union Minister Prahlad Joshi took a swipe at Sonia Gandhi, saying she had “shed tears” for terrorists killed in the Batla House encounter. He also accused Congress of being lenient towards figures like Afzal Guru.
“Mallikarjun Kharge mistakenly called the BJP a terrorist party by slip of the tongue; however, it was Sonia Gandhi who shed tears for terrorists who died in Batla House. It was Congress, which was soft on Afzal Guru. It was Congress who repealed POTA in 2004. It was their PM Manmohan Singh who shook hands with separatist militias. It’s only under PM Modi that we have seen a significant decline in terrorist activities. Today, Kashmiri youths have jobs instead of stones, which was the situation during Congress rule. As a senior leader, Mr. Kharge should double-check what he says,” the Union Minister stated in a post on X while tagging PM Modi.
