'Italian culture': Shah takes swipe at Congress over Kharge's Article 370 remark

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for his comments about the ruling party's campaign regarding the removal of Article 370 of the Constitution. Home Minister Amit Shah stated that the opposition party's "Italian culture" was to blame for its failure to grasp the essence of India.

Shah and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including its president J P Nadda, shared a short clip of Kharge's speech on X, in which he is heard targeting the ruling party for talking about removal of Article 370 in Rajasthan.

"Arre bhai, yahan ke logon se kya wasta hai (what has it got to do with the people here)?" Kharge is heard asking in the clip. The Congress chief also incorrectly referred to Article 371 instead of Article 370, which had granted special rights to Jammu and Kashmir and was annulled by the BJP-led Centre in August 2019.

Shah said on X that it was "shameful" to hear what Kharge said. He reminded the Congress that Jammu and Kashmir "is an integral part of India" and that every state and citizen has a right over it just as the people of Jammu and Kashmir have a right over the rest of the country.

Taking a swipe at the Congress, Shah said the party does not know that "many brave sons of Rajasthan have sacrificed their lives for peace and security in Kashmir".

"But it is not merely the fault of the Congress leaders. It is mostly the Italian culture of the Congress party that is to blame for not understanding the very idea of India. Such statements hurt every patriotic citizen who cares for the unity and integrity of the nation. People will certainly answer Congress."

"And for the kind information of the Congress, it was not Article 371, but Article 370, that was abrogated by the Modi government," he said in a post on the microblogging platform."

However, it is only expected of the Congress that it would make such mistakes, the home minister added.

"Such blunders made by it have haunted our nation for decades now," he said.

Nadda also seized on the issue to slam the Congress. In a post on X, he said, "Another day, another gem from Congress! Kharge Ji displays the typical Congress mindset which wanted Jammu and Kashmir to remain disconnected from the rest of India. He doesn't even know that the Article in question is Article 370 and not 371."

Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, the BJP chief said, adding that the removal of Article 370 is very much linked to national pride and the unity as well as the integrity of India.

The Congress will never understand such emotions, he said.