Time is up for 'Rotten Secret Society': Congress slams Nadda over Rahul Gandhi criticism

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday hit back at BJP president J P Nadda for his criticism of Rahul Gandhi and said time is up for the "Rotten Secret Society".

Gandhi's remarks that "we are now fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian state itself" triggered a row, with Nadda claiming that the Congress' "ugly truth" has been exposed by its leader.

Hitting back at Nadda, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "Nothing is more rotten than you calling the ideology of Gandhi and the ideology that freed India from the tyrannical British rule. Time is up for the Rotten Secret Society."

Khera's remarks came after Nadda alleged on X that it is not a secret that Gandhi and his ecosystem have close links with "urban naxals" and the "deep state" who want to "defame, demean and discredit" India.

He said Gandhi's repeated actions have also strengthened this belief.

Everything he has done or said has been in the direction of breaking India and dividing our society, Nadda said.

"Hidden no more, Congress' ugly truth now stands exposed by their own leader," Nadda said.

"I 'compliment' Mr. Rahul Gandhi for saying clearly what the nation knows- that he is fighting the Indian state!" he said.

Addressing party leaders after the inauguration of the Congress' new headquarters at 9A, Kotla Road here, Gandhi said, "Do not think that we are fighting a fair fight. There is no fairness in this.

"If you believe that we are fighting a political organisation called the BJP, that we are fighting a political organisation called the RSS, you have not understood what is going on. The BJP and the RSS have captured every single institution of our country. We are now fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian state itself," he said.