BJP slams Congress over saffron terror claims

New Delhi

Following the acquittal of all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad strongly criticized the Congress party, accusing it of spreading a false narrative of "saffron terror" for vote-bank politics.

At a press conference on Thursday, Prasad said, “The Congress party can go to any extent for vote-bank politics. It created a false idea of ‘bhagwa aatankwad’ (saffron terror).” He blamed former Home Minister P. Chidambaram for promoting this narrative during his tenure.

Prasad alleged that Chidambaram pushed the saffron terror theory deliberately. Referring to the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, he claimed that Chidambaram pressured senior Home Ministry officials to modify affidavits. “Then Home Secretary G.K. Pillai was asked not to mention that Ishrat Jahan was linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, even though the group had called her a martyr,” Prasad said.

He also mentioned R.V.S. Mani, another Home Ministry official, claiming that he too faced pressure to change details in official documents. Prasad accused Chidambaram of using his power to support false narratives.

Responding to Chidambaram’s recent comments on the Pahalgam attack, Prasad said, “He not only questions our security forces today but once supported the idea of saffron terror.”

Prasad welcomed the court’s verdict in the Malegaon case, which found no evidence against the accused. He highlighted that some witnesses had claimed they were tortured, calling it a misuse of state power under the Congress-led government. “The truth is finally out,” he said, praising the court’s decision as a step toward justice.