Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge (File photo)

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “terrorist” and later issued a clarification, in remarks expected to trigger political controversy during the ongoing election season.Kharge made the statement in Chennai at a press conference on the final day of campaigning for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, scheduled for Thursday. He was criticising the opposition AIADMK over its alliance with PM Modi’s BJP.“How can they (AIADMK) join with Modi? He is a terrorist. And he doesn’t believe in equality. His party won’t believe in equality and justice. And these people are joining with them, it means that they are weakening democracy, they are weakening the philosophy of Annadurai, Kamaraj, Periyar, Kalaignar, and Baba Saheb Ambedkar,” he said.“The Congress-DMK alliance will continue to deliver welfare, inclusive growth, quality education, and accessible healthcare,” he added.When questioned on the context of his remarks, the Congress chief said he meant that the prime minister always “threatens” and pointed to the alleged “misuse” of agencies by the BJP-led central government.“I want to clarify that Modi always threatens. The institutions like ED, I-T and CBI are in his hands. Therefore I say, in that context, I say he is terrorising people and political parties,” the veteran politician stated.Reacting to Kharge’s remarks, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya criticised the Congress leader, calling it a “yet another crass display” in a post on X.“This isn’t the first time Kharge has dragged public discourse to such lows. But with this remark, he hasn’t just diminished himself, he has exposed what is a stated approach of the Congress: abuse and vilification of India’s most popular leader instead of meaningful debate. When politics is reduced to name-calling, it reflects not strength, but a deep frustration and lack of credible alternatives,” Malviya posted.AIADMK, an arch-rival of the ruling DMK, joined hands with the BJP in April 2025 after breaking away from the alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which both parties failed to win any seats in Tamil Nadu. The DMK and its allies had swept the state in that election.Counting of votes for all 234 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu is scheduled for May 4.