Chennai | Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "terrorising" political parties by misusing government machinery and central agencies to stifle the Opposition, triggering strong reactions from the BJP, which attacked the opposition leader for calling Modi a "terrorist".
Addressing a press conference in Chennai alongside AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, Kharge initially referred to the Prime Minister as a "terrorist" while criticising the AIADMK’s alliance with the BJP.
Questioning how the AIADMK -- a party rooted in the Dravidian ideologies of Periyar and C N Annadurai -- could justify partnering with Prime Minister Modi, Kharge said: "How these AIADMK people, who themselves put the photo of Annadurai... how can they join with Modi? He is a terrorist...He doesn't believe in equality. His party won't believe in equality and justice. And these people are joining them, which means that they are weakening democracy."
However, when asked by reporters to clarify the context of the remark, Kharge said what he meant was that the Prime Minister was "terrorising" the democratic fabric of the country.
"He is terrorising people and political parties. I never said he is a terrorist (in the literal sense). Terrorising this... he is misusing his power and government machinery and abusing, malingering opposition parties," Kharge said.
The Congress president's remarks drew strong condemnation from senior BJP leaders, who dubbed the remarks "crass" and "a personal insult" to Modi. BJP leader Piyush Goyal also demanded an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.
"I feel ashamed that the Congress and the DMK have stooped so low that they are insulting the Prime Minister, who is democratically elected by the people of India, by calling him a terrorist," Goyal said on X.
Demanding an apology from Gandhi and Stalin for "this downright insult" to the Prime Minister, the Union minister said the Congress and DMK have humiliated 140 crore Indians, including our 8 crore Tamil brothers and sisters, with this statement.
"This unholy alliance is effectively calling Indians terrorists by targeting the Prime Minister. Such personal attacks against the PM won't reverse their electoral fate that has already been sealed by the anger of the people who have suffered their misrule," he added.
BJP IT chief Amit Malviya also took to X and posted a series of comments to attack the Congress.
"CONGRESS CROSSES A DANGEROUS LINE! Mallikarjun Kharge, in broad daylight, calls PM Modi a 'TERRORIST', not in some closed-room rant, but on stage, with cameras rolling.This isn’t opposition. This isn't criticism. This is straight-up Pakistan’s echo chamber wearing Congressi badge.
"When a party president labels India’s Prime Minister, the man who crushed terror at its roots, a terrorist, you’ve officially become the enemy within.Congress isn’t fighting PM Modi anymore. They’re fighting India, and the mask is, yet again, off," he said while terming the remarks "crass".
BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "The words Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge chose for Prime Minister Modi today are not only condemnable but also reflect the mindset of the Congress party. Kharge called him a terrorist."
Patra rejected Kharge's clarification and alleged that the Congress president deliberately called the prime minister a terrorist at the behest of Rahul Gandhi.
"This was not a slip of the tongue. It's deliberate. Even though they are offering a clarification, it is a deliberate conspiracy by the Congress," the BJP MP said in a video message.
During the press meet in Chennai, Kharge also alleged that the Election Commission has become an "extension of the BJP office" and accused the Prime Minister of violating the Model Code of Conduct in the final stages of the election campaign.
He further claimed that central agencies like the CBI, ED, and the Income Tax Department were being deployed as tools of intimidation against political workers.