Amit Shah hits back at Rahul Gandhi over Bhima-Koregaon verdict

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has hit back at Congress president Rahul Gandhi after the Supreme Court refused to grant relief to the five activists detained in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon case.

Quoting an earlier tweet by Gandhi on the case, Shah said on Friday that there is only one place for idiocy and it is called the Congress. "Support 'Bharat Ke Tukde Tukde Gang', Maoists, fake activists and corrupt elements. Defame all those who are honest and working. Welcome to Rahul Gandhi's Congress," his tweet read.

Shah trained guns at Rahul over his tweet about Bhima-Koregaon case dated August 28, which read: "There is only place for one NGO in India and it's called the RSS. Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the new India."

The BJP president continued his tirade against the Congress party in a series of tweets and stated that those who stooped down to the level of politicising an issue of national security have been exposed by the Supreme Court decision today. He asked the Congress to clears its stand on the "critical issue of Urban Naxalism."

Amit Shah further stated that India is a vibrant democracy with a healthy culture of debate, discussion and dissent. "However, plotting against the country with the intent to harm our citizens is not one of these. Those who politicised this issue need to apologise," read his tweet.

Shah's retort comes in the wake of the top court's verdict extending the house arrest of the detained activists and turning down their demand for a Special Investigating Team (SIT) probe in the case.

The five activists- Vara Vara Rao, Sudha Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Gautam Navlakha- were detained by Maharashtra Police on August 28. The action by the police led to widespread criticism of the government by the Opposition parties. Many Congress leaders, including Shashi Tharoor, Salman Khurshid and RS Surjewala sought a thorough probe into the matter.

The case pertains to violence that erupted at a gathering to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle. A youth died and several others, including 10 policemen, were injured in the incident which took place in January this year.