The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday launched a sharp attack on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for describing Diwali as an “Eid of happiness” in his festive greetings, accusing the Congress of appeasement and vote-bank politics, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

Union Minister Giriraj Singh called Kharge a mouthpiece of Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family. “Kharge is a mouthpiece of Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family. He speaks what the input in the machine is. You're playing the game of appeasement in this country… Nehru divided the country, and you've been practising appeasement politics ever since,” Singh told ANI.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari, in a video message on X, called the Congress an “anti-Hindu” and “anti-Sanatan” party, PTI reported, and dared Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to call Eid a “Diwali of joy”. BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asked on X what the problem was with calling Diwali, the biggest festival of Hindus, by its own name, according to the PTI report.

Source: PTI via Swadesi

Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi termed the remark a conspiracy at the behest of the Gandhi family. “Mallikarjun Kharge's calling our most sacred festival the 'Eid of Joy' is no mistake, but a deliberate conspiracy at the behest of the Gandhi family. I want to ask: do you have the courage to call any other festival the 'Deepwali of Joy'?” he said, according to ANI.

The row began with Kharge's remarks to reporters on November 7 while extending Diwali greetings. “I extend my best wishes to everyone for Diwali. Many people celebrate it as it is an Eid of Happiness… On this festive occasion, I would like to convey my greetings to all my fellow countrymen. I also have a special appeal: it is essential to maintain peace in the nation,” Kharge said, as reported by ANI and the Daily Jagran.

Source: The Daily Jagran

The Congress defended its president. Party leader Rashid Alvi told ANI that Eid is synonymous with joy and is used as a metaphor: “Clearly, when it comes to expressing joy, Eid is often used as a metaphor, much like how, when someone reappears after a long absence, people ask, 'Kya tum Eid ka chand ho gaye ho?' Eid is synonymous with joy. If Mallikarjun Kharge made such a remark, it is the kind of sentiment only a secular person could express.” Alvi added that while both festivals are occasions of joy, Eid does not lead to an increase in the Air Quality Index.

The exchange is the latest festive-season political clash between the two national parties, with the BJP framing the remark as appeasement ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections and the Congress framing the criticism as an attack on a secular greeting. Kharge had also used his Diwali message to appeal for peace and national unity and to press Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept Rahul Gandhi's challenge of a public debate on issues including the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, NEET, unemployment and inflation.