NEW DELHI: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday hit back at the BJP leadership, alleging that their "ideological ancestors" supported the British and the Muslim League against Indians in the freedom struggle.
Kharge's reaction came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress, charging that its poll manifesto bore the imprint of the Muslim League and utterances of its leaders showed hostility towards national integrity and Sanatan Dharma.
In a post on X, Kharge said, "Modi-Shah's political and ideological ancestors supported the British and the Muslim League against the Indians in the freedom struggle."
"Even today, they are invoking the Muslim League against the 'Congress Nyay Patra', guided and shaped according to the aspirations, needs and demands of common Indians," he added.
BJP chief JP Nadda had also accused the Congress of appeasement in its manifesto and asked the party to explain why it was against the majority.
In his post, Kharge alleged, "Modi-Shah's ideological ancestors opposed Mahatma Gandhi's call for 'Quit India' in 1942, which was the movement chaired by Maulana Azad."
Everyone knows how Shyama Prasad Mukherjee formed his governments in Bengal, Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province in the 1940s in coalition with the Muslim League, the Congress chief said.
"Did Shyama Prasad Mukherjee not write to the then British governor about how the Quit India movement of 1942 can be 'combated' and how the Congress should be suppressed? And for this, he said that 'Indians have to trust the British'?," Kharge asked.
"Modi-Shah and their nominated president are today spreading falsehood about the Congress manifesto," he alleged.
"There is a stink of RSS in Modi ji's speeches, the BJP's electoral graph is plunging day by day, therefore the RSS has started remembering its best friend -- the Muslim League!," Kharge said.
"There is only one truth, the Congress' Nyay Patra reflects the hopes and aspirations of 140 crore people of India.Their combined strength will put an end to Modi ji's 10 years of injustice," he claimed.
Earlier in the day, the Congress said Modi is scared over the prospect of the BJP struggling to cross the 180-seat mark in the Lok Sabha polls and again resorted to the "same cliched Hindu-Muslim script".