Kharge takes dig at Amit Shah, says he was a child when I became MLA

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday targeted Union home minister Amit Shah at a party event in Goa, saying he was a child when Kharge first became an MLA and that Shah should not teach patriotism to Congress leaders. 'When I became an MLA for the first time, Amit Shah was a child, and today he is teaching us patriotism,' Kharge said, according to aajtak.in. He added that BJP leaders often comment against former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and that Congress leaders fought for India's freedom while the BJP and its predecessors did not.

In a post on X, Kharge wrote that BJP is 'anti-India' and 'anti-religion', accusing its leaders of dividing the country and spreading hatred. He also called the BJP a 'government of thieves' that topples other parties by buying MLAs. Separately, at the Goa event, the Congress sang only the first two stanzas of the national song Vande Mataram, reigniting a political controversy. A complaint has been filed with Delhi police against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over the issue.