Prophet Mohammad row: BJP’s opponents have a field day

New Delhi, Jun 06: Amidst the Prophet Mohammad row, the BJP's opponents took to the social media to target the party after it suspended spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal.

The Congress termed the BJP's action against two of its spokespersons as "placatory", saying it came under duress following "threats from external powers" and exposed the saffron party's "muscular posturing".

Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala accused the BJP of pushing India into a dark age of religious polarisation to "subserve its parochial political agenda in the short term".

"The placatory expulsion of two key members and spokespersons of the BJP from its primary membership, done obviously under duress of threats from external powers, exposes the much touted 'muscular posturing' and positioning of the BJP and the Modi government," Surjewala said in a statement.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Centre calling BJP spokespersons "fringe elements" is a joke.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, "when leaders of the Sangh Parivar defame other faiths on prime time debates, the BJP and PM Modi remain mute spectators. They wake up only when the voices of dissent are raised by foreign nations.

Another Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said this fire must be doused as it is now gripping NRIs too.
"The way the BJP has adopted the phrase 'Ghar Phoonk Tamasha Dekhna' (making a spectacle after setting the house on fire), the head of every secular citizen of the country has bowed in shame. Now even non-resident Indians are coming under the grip of this fire. This fire should be doused immediately," the former Union minister said in a tweet in Hindi.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, on the other hand, asked the BJP to take "legal action" against Sharma. The AIMIM, too, expressed similar views saying the suspension was a sham.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the suspension was a 'sham'. He also questioned the trigger for the suspension, noting the absence of action when domestic Muslims were outraged about the remarks.

Taking a dig at Sharma, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said he has sympathies for Sharma as she faced action for the hate that the BJP spread day in and day out. "This is injustice. This is doublespeak," he tweeted.

TMC leader and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha said: "BJP's national spokesperson is now fringe element. What about the party itself? The fringe is unfortunately now in the centre. Modi hai to mumkin hai."