BJP demands Rahul apologise for Tharoor's 'Hindu Pakistan' claim

Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor addressing an event in Thiruvananthapuram | Twitter account of Shashi Tharoor

The BJP has reacted with outrage at a statement by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday in which he said if the saffron party won the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it would create conditions leading to the formation of a Hindu Pakistan.

Addressing an event in Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor stated the BJP will write a new constitution, which will pave the way for a nation much like Pakistan, where the rights of minorities are not respected.

"If they (BJP) win a repeat in the Lok Sabha, our democratic Constitution as we understand it will not survive as they will have all the elements they need to tear apart the Constitution of India and write a new one," he added.

"That new one will be the one that will enshrine principles of Hindu Rashtra that will remove equality for minorities, that'll create a Hindu Pakistan and that isn't what Mahatama Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and great heroes of freedom struggle fought for," he added.

Meanwhile, criticising Tharoor's statement, the BJP demanded an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters, "Rahul Gandhi must apologise for what Shashi Tharoor said. Congress was responsible for creation of Pakistan because of its ambitions. Yet again, it has gone ahead to demean India and defame Hindus of India."

Patra also took to Twitter and said that the Congress doesn't lose any opportunity to demean India and defame Hindus.”