Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has evoked a sharp response on social media with his tweets.
The BJP has challenged Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and deputy Rahul Gandhi to officially condemn comments made by their party leader Digvijaya Singh on Twitter today, saying a failure to do so will mean that he has spoken on their behalf.
Digvijaya Singh kicked up a massive controversy by appearing to compare Yakub Memon, executed this morning for his role in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, to former President APJ Abdul Kalam, whose last rites were performed in his home town today.
Mr Singh tweeted:On Twitter, people lambasted Mr Singh for mentioning Yakub Memon, a man found guilty for terror attacks that killed 257 people, in the same space as one of the country's most beloved leaders.
The BJP's GVL Narasimha Rao said, "If Rahul and Sonia Gandhi do not reflect the views of Digvijaya, they must condemn his statement today through a formal press statement," adding, "Otherwise this country has to take Digvijaya Singh's comments as the official position of the Congress party."
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad of the BJP too asked, "What he has said, does it represent the official view of the Congress party?"
Mr Singh's party vice-president Rahul Gandhi was among thousands who paid homage to Dr Kalam at his burial in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many senior ministers too attended.
Digvijaya Singh, who also accused the Modi government of "giving communal colour" to the Yakub case, later claimed that he had only meant to highlight a contrast in his tweets. "On one side the former President with humble beginnings reached such great heights and did so much for the people and on the other side Yakub got involved in bad company and became a criminal," Mr Singh said.