BJP attacks Mallikarjun Kharge for calling Diwali 'Eid of Happiness'

The Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a scathing attack on Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for referring to the festival of Diwali as the 'Eid of Happiness'. The BJP has labelled Kharge 'anti-Sanatan' over this statement and accused the Congress of practicing the politics of bias. Kharge made this controversial remark while interacting with journalists on the occasion of Diwali.

According to a report by India Today, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari reacted to the matter on the social media platform 'X', stating that even during Hindu festivals, the Congress thinks only about vote banks and bias. Bhandari wrote, "Congress President calls Diwali 'Eid of Happiness'! Even on Diwali, Congress thinks about bias and vote banks! Yesterday Sonia Gandhi cried for Babri, today Shri Kharge is showing bias in his Diwali message! Congress is anti-Sanatan!"

In this controversy, the BJP has also linked past statements made by Sonia Gandhi. The BJP attacked the Congress regarding the views expressed by Sonia Gandhi concerning the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. In an interview given to the British newspaper 'The Guardian', prior to the publication of her memoirs 'Belonging: A Journey of Love', Sonia Gandhi had stated that she had wept while watching the demolition of the Babri Masjid on television on 6 December, 1992. She further added that this incident made her realise that India would have to face a long struggle to maintain its secular foundations. Sonia Gandhi also admitted that the Congress had been negligent in many ways, which had partially contributed to the rise of the BJP and its Hindutva politics.

The BJP reacted strongly to these statements by Sonia Gandhi as well. Rajya Sabha MP and BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, while speaking to journalists in Delhi, alleged that the Congress sympathises with Mughal rulers. Trivedi said, "This shows that Babur was in the heart of the Congress party at that time and he is still in its heart today."

With Kharge's recent statement, the Congress's Diwali greetings and Gandhi's remarks regarding the Babri Masjid demolition have become entwined in a single political controversy. Through this incident, the BJP has raised questions over the ideology of the Congress.