Bengaluru: The Congress Monday distanced itself from controversial remarks made by its Karnataka leaders on the Pahalgam terrorist attack that have drawn sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said any comments, besides what Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge or Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had shared, did not reflect the party’s views.
This comes days after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that there was no need to go to war with Pakistan, followed by one of his ministers, R. B. Timmapur, questioning how the terrorists could have found time to ask about the Pahalgam victims’ religions before killing them.
Their comments triggered an uproar that is yet to taper down.
The Congress Working Committee had met on April 24th 2025 and passed a resolution on the brutal terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam two days earlier. Therafter on the evening of April 24th 2025 the Congress President and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha attended…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 28, 2025
On Saturday, former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar stoked a row too. At a book release, he posed the question of whether the terror attack was a result of “unresolved questions of the Partition”, prompting flak from the BJP.
Congress’s Shashi Tharoor also faced friendly fire over his comments that the Opposition should see the present crisis through before demanding accountability from the government, adding that no country can ever have a foolproof 100 percent intelligence.
A cascading crisis
On Monday, Vijay Wadettiwar, the Congress MLA from Maharashtra’s Brahmapuri assembly constituency, appeared to back his Karnataka colleague, Thimmapur. “The government should take responsibility for the Pahalgam terrorist attack. It (the government) is saying that terrorists killed people after asking them [about their religion]. Do terrorists have time for all that?” he asked.
In the wake of the comments, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came down heavily on the Congress. “Do Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge have no control over their party? Or both made pro forma comments while allowing others the freedom to speak as they wish?” senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad asked, PTI has reported.
The Congress party was left red-faced as its leaders’ comments garnered widespread criticism. TV news channels in neighbouring Pakistan discussed Siddaramaiah’s remarks at length.
In Karnataka, Leader of Opposition R. Ashok took potshots at Siddaramaiah, saying he would be awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian honour, Nishan-e-Pakistan, as a peace ambassador.
Sidddaramaiah’s attempts to clarify his comments that India should go to war only if inevitable could not stop the mounting criticism.
Siddaramaiah’s deputy, D.K. Shivakumar, also did not back him. “I am not going to respond to the CM’s statement. Our stand is (to) protect India,” Shivakumar told reporters Sunday.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: Amid row over ‘janeu’ removal at CET centres, Oppn targets Siddaramaiah govt with ‘hijab’ jibe