Congress alleges saffron link with terrorists, BJP hits back

New Delhi, July 9

The Opposition Congress on Saturday held 23 press conferences across various Indian cities to allege BJP has links with terrorists.

AICC general secretary in charge of communication Jairam Ramesh said party spokespersons revealed at the events “how the BJP was linked to terrorists”.

The party alleged that two recent incidents had exposed the BJP and that it was “willing to flirt with antinationals”.

It said the first incident involved the murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli and the second related to Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist’s arrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The terrorist nabbed in J&K was not only a province-level BJP office-bearer who had previously been captured in photos with Home Minister Amit Shah, but was also planning attacks on Amarnath Yatra,” Congress media chairman Pawan Khera alleged.

The party cited other instances. “In 2017, the Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested BJP IT cell member Dhruv Saxena along with 10 others for spying for the ISI. Two years later, Balram Singh, a Bajrang Dal leader from Madhya Pradesh, was arrested for terror-funding. In 2017, a special NIA court sentenced Assam BJP leader Niranjan Hojai to life imprisonment for diverting government funds to a militant group. The BJP knowingly gave a ticket to Masood Azhar’s acolyte Mohammad Farooq Khan to contest the Srinagar municipal election from Ward 33,” he said.

“What kind of an ideology gives place to both Nupur Sharma and Riyaz Attari,” asked Khera, adding, “Is the BJP inspired by the alliance between the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League in which extremists of all religions banded together to prevent nationalist forces like the Congress to come to power?”

Hitting back at the Congress, the BJP in New Delhi cited various past incidents to allege that the grand old party can join hands with even terrorists to be in power.

Ticket to Azhar’s aide

The BJP knowingly gave the ticket to Masood Azhar’s acolyte Mohammad Farooq Khan to contest the Srinagar municipal election. — Pawan Khera, Congress spokesperson