An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' also likened the All India Majlis-e-Ittihadul-Muslimeen (MIM) and Owaisi brothers to "poisonous snakes" who spew venom to "exploit" the minority community.
Criticising the Sena, Congress leader Anand Sharma said, "These observations deserve to be condemned.It's unacceptable. We are proud to be a constitutional democracy, a secular nation. We are proud of India's diversity, its pluralism. India belongs to all and every citizen of this country enjoys the same fundamental rights."
He said it is very clear that there are elements who are creating conflict and division in society to inflame passions and there are multiple violations taking place by some leaders and members of the extended Sangh parivar despite assurances of the Prime Minister to Parliament and the nation.
"It is for them now to realise that they have been elected to provide governance and not to create daily commodition," he said.
Another party leader Abhishek Singhvi said though he does not want to comment on "silly, ridiculous, ill informed and deliberately provocative" statements,"I think Saamna thinks it might be living in some Talibanised land and not in a secular, democratic, socialist, world's largest vibrant democracy. I think it is Saamna which has no place in a culture like ours rather than those against whom they spread hatred."
Another Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said the motive of such statements is to communalise the atmosphere.
"Gradually the magic of Prime Minister is going and BJP is slowly sinking much faster than the party and its allies thought and now that they are in trouble, this is the only thing that they hope will help them. Communalism helped Modi in Gujarat and helped him win the 2014 elections and that is the only thing that will help them again," he said.
Shiv Sena courted controversy on Sunday by demanding scrapping of voting rights of Muslims, saying the community has often been used for vote bank politics, evoking sharp reactions from several political parties which accused it of trying to inflame passions and divide people.
Other than Congress, Samajwadi Party leader Kamal Farooqui said, "The Constitution gives equal rights to every citizen without any difference of caste, creed or religion and anybody who is trying to specifically target any particular community like Muslims, this country does not belong to them. I very strongly say that government should take legal action against them and prosecute them. All these people who have this kind of mentality, they should go to some other country," he said.
BJP leader Shaina NC said it is an independent opinion of an editorial written for reasons best known to Sanjay Raut and that BJP does subscribe to any appeasement policy as it has always adhered to policy of 'justice to all and appeasement of none'.
She, however, said, "If one is of the opinion that Owaisi brothers are trying to consolidate the Muslim vote, I think one is entitled to airing that opinion and that opinion needs to be well regarded by all."
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