Reacting to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's "terrorist party" remarks on the Bharatiya Janata Party, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday said that "such debates" only benefits the ruling party at the Centre as they could avoid "talk about unemployment, inflation, poverty".
"I think that getting into such debates only benefits BJP. They want people to be tangled in such issues so that they don't talk about unemployment, inflation, poverty," Bharadwaj told ANI.
Meanwhile hitting back at the Congress President Kharge's "terrorist party" remarks, BJP president and Union Minister JP Nadda termed the statement as 'frustration and despair' and a reaction to party's 'continuous defeat'.
In a self-released video, Union Minister Nadda said, "In the frustration and despair of continuous defeats, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is falling prey to ideological bankruptcies."
This statement came amidst a heated political exchange between Congress President Kharge and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Saturday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge sharply rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that Congress is controlled by "Urban Naxals" and accused the BJP of being a party of terrorists responsible for lynching and heinous crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and tribal.
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Kharge said, "Progressive people are being called Urban Naxals... this is his (PM Modi's) habit. His party (BJP) itself is a terrorist party. They engage in lynching, assault people, urinate in the mouths of Scheduled Castes members, and rape tribal people. They also support those who commit these acts, and then they blame others."
Earlier while addressing a rally in Jammu, Prime Minister Modi had said that the opposition party is completely under the control of "Urban Naxals" who use foreign infiltrators as "vote banks" and mock their own citizens. "Congress has never truly honoured the sacrifices of our brave soldiers. The party is hijacked by Urban Naxal sympathisers, who welcome foreign infiltrators as 'vote banks' while mocking the sufferings of our own citizens," PM Modi said.
Kharge's reply has not been taken well by the BJP leaders. Leading the charge against Kharge's remark, BJP president said that the Congress is abusing the BJP and Prime Minister as it is unable to compete with the policies and schemes of the Modi government.
"When Congress was unable to compete with the policies and schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his leadership for the welfare of the poor and the principles of the nation first, then its entire leadership started abusing the BJP and Prime Minister Modi and defaming the country, "Union Minister Nadda said.
JP Nadda further said that the remarks by the Congress president show the party's desperation and ideological emptiness. "In response to Congress being called urban Naxal, Mallikarjun Kharge calling BJP a terrorist party shows Congress's desperation and ideological emptiness. It seems that the entire top leadership of Congress is in shock due to the irritation of its continuous defeat," Nadda added.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)