Describing the Congress as a party that was never set up on the basis of any ideology, BJP president Amit Shah said the party was launched as a special purpose vehicle to secure Independence. This is the reason, he went on, that Mahatma Gandhi advocated the party's dissolution right after Independence. "Bahut chatur baniya tha woh (He was a clever baniya)," Mr Shah said, a description that prompted the Congress to demand an apology.