Kharge calls Modi 'terrorist', backtracks statement later

Kharge immediately clarified that all he said was that the Prime Minister was terrorizing people and political parties. “I never said he is a terrorist,” he added.

Chennai: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday created a stir by calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “terrorist” but clarified that he merely meant the latter was 'terrorising' people and political parties. However, the BJP was quick to condemn the comments by Kharge who termed the Congress an “Urban Naxal Party."

At a press conference here, Kharge questioned how the AIADMK, which uses the photographs of Dravidian legend C N Annadurai, can ally with Modi. “He (Modi) is a terrorist. His party won't believe in equality and justice. These people are joining with them; it means they are weakening democracy, they are weakening the philosophy of Annadurai, Kamaraj, Periyar, Kalaignar, and Baba Saheb Ambedkar," Kharge said.

However, he immediately clarified that all he said was that the Prime Minister was terrorizing people and political parties. “I never said he is a terrorist,” he said.

"What I want to clarify, is that Modi always threatens. He wants to take delimitation also into his hands. I said , in that context, he is terrorising people and political parties. I never said he is a terrorist," Kharge added.

However, BJP leader and Union Minister Piyush Goyal sought an apology from the Congress.

"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. Rahul Gandhi and MK Stalin must apologise for this downright insult to the Prime Minister as well as the people of India who have voted him in," Goyal posted on X.