4 min readChennai, New DelhiApr 22, 2026 04:51 AM IST
A row erupted Tuesday after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “terrorist” at a press conference in Chennai, a remark that drew condemnation and sharp reactions from the BJP and senior ministers in the Union government.
A BJP delegation will be meeting the Election Commission Wednesday morning in this connection.
On the final day of campaigning in Tamil Nadu, Kharge told reporters: “Periyar, Dr Ambedkar, Annadurai, Kamaraj and Kalaignar – these people stood for women’s reservation, justice, equality and fraternity. Modi is not for these principles… How can these AIADMK people join hands with Modi when their party itself was founded by Annadurai? He is a terrorist. His party does not believe in equality and justice. These people are joining with them – it means they are weakening democracy.”
Asked to clarify what he meant, the Congress president said, “I just want to clarify that what I said was Modi always threatens, using agencies in his hand such as the ED and IT. All these institutions are in his hands. Again, this delimitation also, he wants to take in his hand. Therefore, in that context I said he is terrorising people and political parties. I never said he is a terrorist.”
His remarks came days after the Constitution amendment Bill to advance 33% women’s reservation in an expanded Lok Sabha failed to clear the Lower House. Last Saturday, Modi described the Opposition’s vote against the Bill as “bhroon hatya” (female foeticide).
Condemning Kharge’s statement and accusing the Congress of stooping to a new low, BJP leaders said this amounted to insulting not just an individual but also Indian democracy and the citizens.
The BJP has written to the Election Commission in this regard. A delegation comprising Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Kiren Rijiju and Arjun Ram Meghwal and BJP leaders Arun Singh and Om Pathak will call on the ECI Wednesday morning.
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Describing Kharge’s remark as “atrocious”, Sitharaman, in a post on X, said, “Decades in politics doesn’t matter when you have to serve a dynasty. Language of hate blinds reason and propriety. Another low for the Congress party.”
Her Cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal said he was ashamed that “the Congress and the DMK have stooped so low that they are insulting the Prime Minister… democratically elected by the people of India… by calling him a terrorist.”
“Rahul Gandhi and MK Stalin must apologise for this downright insult to the Prime Minister as well as the people of India who have voted him in. The Congress and DMK have humiliated 140 crore Indians, including our eight crore Tamil brothers and sisters, with this statement. This unholy alliance is effectively calling Indians terrorists by targeting the Prime Minister,” he said.
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Congress uses foul language when it feels cornered on issues. “The use of abusive words against the Hon’ble Prime Minister indicates that the Opposition has neither policy left nor intent, only frustration and desperation remain,” he said. “… Mr Kharge should remember that insulting the Prime Minister’s position is not an affront to one individual alone but to the nation’s democracy and the trust of its citizens,” he said.
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Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said Kharge’s statement was shameful, “even by Congress’s low standards of decency”.
