Salman Khurshid shows solidarity with Shinde

NEW DELHI: BJP on Tuesday stepped up its offensive on the UPA government over Sushil Kumar Shinde's remarks on Hindu terror, as external affairs minister Salman Khurshid added fuel to the fire by endorsing his Cabinet colleague's views. "BJP is deeply pained with the repeated irresponsible utterances of the top UPA government ministers who have blamed BJP and its parent organisation 'the RSS' for encouraging Hindu terrorism," BJP's chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said here. He was reacting to Khurshid's statement that Shinde's remarks were based "entirely on facts".

Khurshid's statement came a day after BJP demanded Shinde's dismissal and sought an apology from the prime minister and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Prasad said Shinde's remarks have encouraged terror operators from the other side of the border and undermined years of efforts by India to expose Pakistan. "Yesterday, Pakistan's terrorists celebrated after Shinde's comments. Is Khurshid supporting those terrorists? What kind of a picture of India is being presented?" he asked. BJP, he said, has taken 'strong objection' to the ministers' statements. "We demand an apology from the Congress president for the objectionable remarks made by its top leaders on Hindu terrorism."

Earlier in the day, BJP reiterated its demand for Shinde's dismissal for accusing RSS and BJP of promoting Hindu terrorism.