BJP calls Mallikarjun Kharge's 'terrorists' barb his own reflection on Congress

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday hit back at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for calling the former a "party of terrorists", saying the opposition party which always supported terrorists is now levelling allegations against it.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Congress which stood for orthodox Islamic practices like triple talaq, halala and hijab is now making all kinds of baseless remarks about the Hindu society.

This is the design of the urban Naxal mindset that Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about, Trivedi said.

Kharge had earlier called the BJP a "party of terrorists", as he hit back at Modi over his recent remarks that the opposition party was being run by a "gang of urban Naxals".

Union minister Giriraj Singh claimed that Kharge's remarks show his reflections on his own party as it was the Congress which always supported terrorists.

Another Union minister, Pralhad Joshi, claimed Kharge "mistakenly" called the BJP a party of terrorists as a slip of tongue.

Taking to X, Joshi said, "It was Sonia Gandhi who shed tears for terrorists who died in Batla House. It was Congress which went soft on Afzal Guru. It was Congress which repealed POTA in 2004. It was their PM Manmohan Singh who shook hands with separatist militants." Joshi also said it was under Modi that terrorist activities saw a significant decline.

BJP spokesperson C R Kesavan said Kharge's comments have exposed Congress' "prejudiced and toxic mindset and ideology of divide and rule", similar to that of the colonial British.

"The nation should not forget how the Congress equated terrorism with the Hindu community in 2013. It was no less then a Union minister in the Congress-led UPA government, Sushil Kumar Shinde, who derogatorily and demeaningly talked about Hindu terrorism," he said.