BJP lashes out at Digvijaya remark

The BJP on Monday lashed out at Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for his reported comment that the RSS was "spreading terrorism" and running "bomb factories" in the country, accusing Singh of communalising the fight against terrorism and trying to divert attention from the problems facing the UPA government.

The BJP on Monday lashed out at Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for his reported comment that the RSS was "spreading terrorism" and running "bomb factories" in the country, accusing Singh of communalising the fight against terrorism and trying to divert attention from the problems facing the UPA government.

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Even as the Congress distanced itself from Singh's remarks in Delhi, the clash between Singh and BJP youth activists in Madhya Pradesh over the Congress leader's remarks generated much heat in the state assembly.

"It is very unfortunate that Digvijaya Singh is deliberately trying to provoke and seeking to change the entire investigation into the Mumbai serial blasts. …He is deliberately trying to communalise the fight against terror for petty political gains," BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said. "The RSS is a credible nationalist organisation, which we take pride in. We demand that the Congress apologise to the nation."

Prasad added that while the BJP "gained" from Singh's statements, these were not good for the fight against terrorism.

Recalling that Rahul Gandhi had also said that Hindutva terror was a big threat, Prasad said Digvijaya seemed to have become the "voice" of the Gandhis.

The BJP leader also claimed that Singh's statements seemed intended to divert attention from the UPA's problems: "Congress is being implicated daily in corruption and being soft on terrorism. Digvijaya Singh's motive seems to be to change the agenda of the country so that the Congress gets relief."

RSS leader Ram Madhav, however, brushed aside Singh's criticism, also taking a dig at his confrontation with BJP youth activists protesting against him in MP: "We pity the situation a senior leader like Digvijaya Singh finds himself in.... He has started acting like a street bully. We pity him."

On its part, the Congress distanced itself from Digvijaya Singh's remarks that RSS was making bomb factories.

"It would be better if you put this question to him," was the reply of party spokesman Manish Tewari when asked whether the Congress endorsed Singh's remarks.