Congress's no to Muslim party tag, says it's for all

The Congress on Sunday said the party belongs to every person and religion and slammed the remarks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the grand old party works only for the interests of Muslims. Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said such remarks were an issue of national concern. "This sick mindset of his (Modi) is an issue of national concern, the PM gives out statements which are wrong as per history and facts," he said.

The row erupted after an Urdu daily, Inquilab, a few days ago attributed to Rahul Gandhi telling a meeting of Muslim intellectuals that "the Congress is party of Muslims". The newspaper editor Shakeel Shamsi on Sunday clarified that the news was wrongly translated by another Urdu journalist Shahid Sidiqui, who made it sensational and tweeted its contents out of the context. In a signed editorial, Shamsi said his newspaper had quoted Gandhi telling a group of Muslim intelligentsia that Congress has stood by the weaker sections and it stands by Muslims who are week and poor. Shamsi wrote that Sidiqui had misquoted the news by tweeting out "Yes, Congress is a Muslim Party, says Rahul Gandhi".

Sharma at a press conference on Sunday said Congress belongs to every person and religion of the country and it needs no certificate from Narendra Modi about its credentials and ideology. "PM is for entire India and not only BJP. His main political rival, Congress party, has led nationalist movements and the struggle for freedom. Calling the party a 'Muslim party' is not befitting of a PM. He has less knowledge of history. He writes his own history," he said