Fringe is BJP's core, says Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said 'fringe' is the BJP's core and highlighted some past statements of top BJP leaders holding senior positions in the government.

His remarks came after the India Missions in Kuwait and Qatar in their statements dubbed the controversial remarks of BJP's now-sacked spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal on Prophet Mohammad as those of "fringe elements" after these countries lodged their protest. While the government distanced itself from such remarks and the BJP suspended Sharma and expelled Jindal, the Ministry of External Affairs later said the statements by some individuals do not represent that of the government.

"'Fringe' is BJP's core," Gandhi said in a tweet while sharing headlines of news reports on statements of BJP leaders like Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, Anurag Thakur and Sadhvi Pragya. In the image tweeted by him, media reports quote Shah as calling Bangladeshi migrants "termites" and Yogi Adityanath saying that "women not capable of being left free or independent". Anurag Thakur is quoted as saying, "desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko" and Sadhvi Pragya's remark on Nathuram Godse is also mentioned. The remarks made by Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal on Prophet Mohammad drew international condemnation with some Islamic countries demanding an apology. The Congress has asked why the country should apologise and face the consequences of the "misdeeds" of BJP leaders.