Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday hit out at Congress, saying that the opposition party supports ‘tukde tukde’ of India. The scathing attack came after Congress leader Ajoy Kumar referred to Sikkim as a ‘neighbouring country’, a gaffe he later called ‘a slip of the tongue’.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla described Kumar's remarks as an insult to Sikkim and the entire Northeast region. He accused Congress of longstanding hostility toward the Northeast.
"Today, the statement made by Ajoy Kumar that Sikkim is not an integral part of India and is, in fact, a neighbouring nation, shows how he has insulted not just Sikkim but the entire northeast. Congress has always been against the Northeast. We have seen they have bombed one of the states in the Northeast. They have said bye-bye to Assam in the 1960s," Poonawalla told news agency ANI.
Poonawala accused the Congress of following the 'footsteps of Jinnah', saying that the opposition party wants a ‘Sharia Islamic state’ and India’s division.
{{/usCountry}}Poonawala accused the Congress of following the 'footsteps of Jinnah', saying that the opposition party wants a ‘Sharia Islamic state’ and India’s division.
{{/usCountry}}"Congress is following the footsteps of Jinnah. It is a 'Jinnahwadi' party. Just like Jinnah wanted that there should be an Islamic state and division of India, the Congress party advocates for a Sharia Islamic state in some parts, and it wants the 'tukde tukde' of Bharat," Shehzad Poonawalla said.
The gaffe by the Congress leader and his clarification
The Sikkim row began when Congress leader Ajoy Kumar named Sikkim as one of India's neighbouring nations along with Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, while addressing a press conference on Tuesday. Kumar was listing neighbouring countries with whom India's relations have been spoiled.
The Congress leader later shared an X post and apologised for his statement, calling it a slip of the tongue.
"Yesterday, in my press conference on 'SAIL 400 crore scam', when I was speaking on the deteriorating relations with our neighbouring countries, I accidentally took name of a state. For which I sincerely apologise as it was just a slip of tongue," he wrote.
Further, he targeted the BJP and asked them to hold a press conference on the "atrocities" in 'Amrit Kaal' rather than his "human error".
"I heard from a journalist friend that @BJP4India is planning to organise a press conference on this small human error. I want to ask BJP; 1. Why don't they do a press conference on the atrocities happening in this 'AmritKaal'? I did speak about it too yesterday at my Press Conference," the X post read.
He questioned the BJP over the alleged SAIL scam of ₹400 crore.
"2. Why don't they do a press conference on SAIL's ₹400 crore scam? I did speak about it too yesterday at my Press Conference. 3. Why don't they do a press conference on what is the relation between Ekta Aggarwal, the promoter of VIPPL company, which was the main cause of SAIL's loss of ₹400 crore, with BJP? I did speak about it too yesterday at my Press Conference," Kumar added.
Ajoy Kumar said that the BJP will never hold a press conference on the country's major issues but will instead focus on the opposition leaders' small mistakes.