Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar on Monday accused the Congress of sympathising with terrorists and said its party president Sonia Gandhi "shed tears for militants".
Playing the nationalism card, Khattar launched a fierce attack at a poll rally on opposition Congress over Article 370, asking how could "sympathisers of terrorists support its abrogation".
He said Congress leaders like Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who supported the Union government's move on Article 370, were unable to get the party support.
"Why? Because they (Congress leaders) always shed tears when a terrorist gets killed. Sonia Gandhi cries seeing his body. Such is their character," said Khattar.
Khattar, who is on a whirlwind election campaign for the October 21 assembly polls, addressed poll rallies in Jhajjar and Hisar district.
Addressing one such rally in Hansi near Hisar in the evening, Khattar said the contest is between those who say "Bharat Mata ki jai and Sonia mata ki jai.
He said, "A video has also gone viral over the Internet in which the Congress nominee from the Gurgaon assembly segment can be heard saying people will only say Sonia mata ki jai and not Bharat Mata ki jai. He said the Congress and its state unit chief Kumari Selja should clear their stand on this video.
"But one can understand why they are silent. They are in a dilemma. If they say the video is fake, it will annoy Sonia Gandhi. And if they say the video is authentic, the public will get angry," he said, adding that former CM Hooda found himself in the same situation when he supported the Centre's move on Article 370.
The Haryana CM said even Mahatma Gandhi had spoken for the need to disband the Congress after the Independence.
He had said the Congress' job was to play its part in the country's freedom struggle and after the country gained Independence, the Congress had become irrelevant and should have been disbanded.
"We will realise Mahatma Gandhi's dream," he said, adding the Congress would bite the dust in the elections.
The CM also praised his government for providing a "clean" and "transparent" administration.
"We put an end to the system prevalent earlier where 'parchi' (favouritism) and 'kharchi' (corruption) ruled the roost," he said.
"For me, 2.5 crore people is my family and we are working for their welfare," the CM said, adding that their government lived up to the expectations of people by ensuring development without any bias.
The ruling BJP has set a target of winning 75 plus seats in the 90-member assembly.
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