Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday termed as “absurd” allegations levelled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that “Maoists and jihadists” have earned the sympathy of Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

“The allegation that jihadists and Maoists have earned the sympathy of Rahul Gandhi is laughable and absurd. The Congress is stoutly opposed to the two groups,” Chidambaram, a former home minister, said.

Chidambaram's remarks come a day after the BJP accused the Congress of “dividing the nation” citing remarks of its leaders Saifuddin Soz and Ghulam Nabi Azad over Kashmir.

Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, had said in a television interview that more civilians were killed in military operations in Kashmir than militants, a statement that was reportedly echoed by terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Chidambaram asserted that under the UPA, the government had fought the jihadists in Jammu & Kashmir and brought down the level of violence substantially.

“Who can forget that the Congress practically lost its entire leadership in Chhattisgarh to Maoist violence,” he said.

In a hard-hitting article on Facebook, Jaitley on Friday had said that terrorists and the jihadis were threatening the human rights of the citizens in Jammu & Kashmir.

He alleged that though the Congress historically and ideologically would have been opposed to these groups, they have earned sympathy in Rahul's heart.