All Congress leaders should choose words carefully while rejecting the BJP’s “hatred”, the party said on Thursday after Shashi Tharoor’s remark that India will become a “Hindu Pakistan” if the saffron party is voted to power again in 2019.
"India's values and fundamentals are an unequivocal guarantee of our civilisational role & set us apart from the divisive idea of Pakistan," Congress' communication in-charge Randeep Surjewala said in a series of tweets.
"All Congress leaders must realise this historic responsibility bestowed upon us while choosing words and phraseology to reject BJP's hatred," he said.
Surjewala attacked the Modi government, alleging that it thrives upon "an unprecedented atmosphere of division, bigotry, hatred, intolerance and polarisation" for the last four years.
He said that the Congress represents India's civilisational values of pluralism, diversity, compassion and harmony between faiths and ethnicities. (ADD HYPERLINK)
Tharoor on Wednesday said that if voted to power again, the BJP will rewrite the Constitution and pave the way for creation of a "Hindu Pakistan".
The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram defended himself on Thursday and said he is “repeating what is on record” from the BJP and the RSS.
"I don't see what exactly I need to apologise for BJP's point of view. I'm repeating what is on record from BJP&RSS.If they are no longer interested in the idea of Hindu Rashtra they must admit.Until they do so,how can one apologise for reflecting their point accurately," he said.
Meanwhile , the BJP demanded an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi over Tharoor's remarks and said the MP had insulted India's democracy and Hindus.
"It is an abuse and highly objectionable statement to compare the world's sixth largest economy with Pakistan. It is an insult to our democracy and Hindus," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said at a press conference at the party office.
(With inputs from PTI)
