Congress tweets image of burning khakhi shorts; BJP calls it ‘instigation for violence’

The Congress on Monday tweeted a picture of khakhi shorts – resembling a part of the RSS uniform earlier — on fire, drawing sharp reaction from the BJP which dubbed it as an “instigation for violence”.

The text with the picture read, “145 days more to go”. The party captioned the image: “To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS. Step by step, we will reach our goal.”

To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS.

Step by step, we will reach our goal.#BharatJodoYatra 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/MuoDZuCHJ2

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 12, 2022

Following this tweet, the BJP lashed out at the Congress for its “promotion of violence” and dubbed its yatra as “Bharat Todo Yatra”.

Signal to terrorists, says Patra

Noting that many RSS members have been killed in Kerala where the Congress yatra is going presently, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the opposition party has signalled to “terrorists” in the southern state to target their functionaries.

Also read: Second day of Kerala leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra sees huge turnout

Patra asked the Congress to immediately take down the post, saying there is no room for violence in India’s constitutional scheme of things. Hitting out at the Congress, he said the Congress has had an old association with “fire”. Punjab was put on fire when the party was in power and Sikhs were burnt alive during the 1984 riots, he said.

RSS leader M Vaidya said: “They (the Congress) want to connect people to hatred. They have harboured hatred for us for a long time now. Their father and grandfather tried to stop the RSS but the RSS kept growing as we continued to get support from people.”

At a press conference, senior leader and head of the Congress’s communication wing, Jairam Ramesh, said: “Those who stoke the fires of hatred, bigotry and prejudice, must be prepared to take some things back in the same coin…The RSS and the BJP are not used to aggressive responses from the Congress…If they are aggressive, we will be double aggressive, let’s understand this”.

Biswa Sarma calls it ‘shameful mindset’

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma called the Congress tweet reflective of a “shameful mindset”. “Congress Party is not even hiding its true intentions. In the garb of ‘Bharat Jodo’, it is indulging in ‘Bharat Todo’. India will not forgive them for their intentions of hurting nationalists!” he tweeted.

Such a shameful tweet representing such a shameful mindset.
Congress Party is not even hiding its true intentions. In the garb of ‘Bharat Jodo’, it is indulging in ‘Bharat Todo’. India will not forgive them for their intentions of hurting nationalists! https://t.co/EgG3mE9L4X

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 12, 2022

The BJP’s I-T head, Amit Malviya, said, “The Congress has bared its fangs in just 5 days. A party that has thrived on organised violence, from Nellie to Bhagalpur, from Khairlanji to Godhra, from Hashimpura to the Sikh genocide, can never Jodo Bharat… Congress is evil. It deserves to be confined to dustbin of history.”

Also read: Shah takes foreign T-shirt jibe at Rahul; slams Cong for vote bank, appeasement politics

Many other BJP leaders too took to social media to attack the Congress for the tweet.