The Congress was left red-faced today after its senior leader Salman Khurshid said its hands were stained with blood, forcing his party to distance itself from his comments but the BJP seized on them to claim that it was an "acknowledgement" of its history of "engineering communal riots".
The former Union minister stuck to his guns after the remarks made at an event in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Sunday went viral as he told reporters today that he will continue to say what he said.
He had made the remarks at the university in response to a student accusing the Congress of having Muslim blood on its hands and asking how the party proposed to wash it off.
"It is a political question. There is blood on our hands. I am also a part of the Congress so let me say it, we have blood on our hands, said Khurshid, triggering a row.
The Congress said it "disagreed completely" with Khurshid and termed his comments as his personal views.
Speaking to reporters here, Congress spokesperson PL Punia said, All leaders must remember that such unfounded statements only help the cause of those in power today who seek to divide the society on caste and communal lines to retain and attain power at any cost."
Asked by reporters here if he would stick to his comments, Khurshid said, "Have you ever known me to withdraw a statement? What I said, I will continue to say. What I didn't say, I will never say."
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