*MUMBAI:* A day after Indian political party Congress, leader ShashiTharoor remarked that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will turn India into“Hindu Pakistan” if it wins the 2019 Lok Sabha election, BJP spokespersonSambit Patra expressed his displeasure and demanded an apology fromCongress chief Rahul Gandhi, reported Indian media outlet *Firstpost.*link>

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Patra hit out at Tharoor andsaid he should not have displayed hatred towards Indians through hiscomment. “Shashi Tharoor is the same person who called Indians‘cattle-class’. He is ‘cattle-class-ing’ the Indian democracy. You callyourself an educated and erudite spokesperson of the Congress. If you wantto love Pakistan, do so, but do not display such hatred towards Indians,”he said.

At an event in Kerala, Tharoor had said on Wednesday: “If they (BJP) win arepeat in the Lok Sabha, our democratic Constitution, as we understand it,will not survive as they will have all the elements they need to tear apartthe Constitution of India and write a new one.

Citing instances of other Congress leaders who recently found themselvesembroiled in controversy over comments on Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) andPakistan, Patra said the Congress party was “failing”.

“Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the Indian Army is killings civilians, notterrorists. He did it because he just wanted to castigate the Narendra Modigovernment. Mani Shankar Aiyar went to Pakistan and said the Modi’sgovernment needed to be toppled. Saifuddin Soz said Kashmiris want ‘*azaadi*‘.The Congress party is failing. This is not healthy politics, Rahul Gandhi.If you want to say something or question us, do it democratically,” he said.

Patra further said it was an insult to compare India’s democracy toPakistan’s. “And you (Shashi Tharoor) go and compare our democracy toPakistan’s? Thanks to the Congress party, we have black patches in ourhistory, such as the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi which lasted foralmost two years,” he said.

Training his guns on Gandhi, Patra said the Congress was creating anatmosphere of fear and hatred. “Rahuj *ji*, you have begun hating thepeople of this country. What is more disheartening is that you show hatredfor Hindus.”

“Following Ghulam Nabi Azad’s remarks, Congress was certified by the LeT(Lashkar-e-Taiba) and Hafiz Saeed. If you (Gandhi) keep making suchcomments, your only fans will be Pakistan and Hafiz Saeed,” said Patra.

Patra also asked Gandhi to stop “fear-mongering”. “Stop thisfear-mongering, Rahul Gandhi. India is not going to take this easily. Youhave constantly been sowing fear-mongering,” he said, adding it was“shameful to denigrate one’s own democracy”.

Patra then went on to demand an apology from Gandhi and issued a caveatthat the latter not “insult” Hindus again. “He should not just apologisebut also explain why every leader from the party says such things. TheCongress just says it is the leader’s personal view, not the party. Whydon’t you (Gandhi) clarify what the Congress party is?” he asked.

Tharoor has been a vocal critic of the BJP-led government at the Centre. InMay, he had said that India was not safe in the hands of the BJP.“…unfortunately, the evidence we have seen in the last four years (of theNDA rule) does not suggest that this country is safe in the hands of thepresent government,” he said at a press conference in Lucknow.

During an interactive event in Mumbai in April, Tharoor accused the rulingBJP of “wounding” India’s soul by “unleashing forces of intolerance,hatred, and bigotry”. He also said that Hindutva is a political ideology ofthe BJP which has nothing to do with religion.