Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Tuesday attacked the BJP, accusing it of hypocrisy after Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan attended the Operation Blue Star anniversary remembrance programme at the headquarters of Damdami Taksal in Amritsar district. The Damdami Taksal is an influential Sikh organisation once headed by militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

In a strongly worded statement, Warring described the BJP’s move as a textbook case of “running with the hare and hunting with the hounds,” demanding that the party explain its contradictory posturing to the people of Punjab.

“The BJP owes an answer to the people of Punjab,” Warring said, alleging that the party routinely brands its political opponents as anti-national while simultaneously embracing what he called “rank opportunism for electoral gains”.

Warring said that while no one requires a nationalist certificate from the BJP, the episode had fully exposed the party’s “double standards”. He also warned the party against “attempting to revive divisive and sectarian sentiments for electoral advantage”.

“Punjab has long rejected the divisive and sectarian ideology. Don’t try to revive it for petty electoral gains. Don’t play with fire. Punjabis will never accept your divisive agenda,” he said.

“Along with tens of thousands of ordinary people who were killed, the Congress paid the heaviest price. We have lost a Prime Minister and a Chief Minister to the hatred of the very same ideology which you are now espousing and embracing like ideological cousins,” Warring added.

A controversy broke out after Mahajan became the first representative of any state government to attend the annual Operation Blue Star remembrance programme at Damdami Taksal on June 6, marking the 42nd anniversary of the Army’s action at the Darbar Sahib complex in 1984.

Mahajan described June 6 as a “kaala din (black day)” and drew a parallel between the 1984 violence and historical atrocities, while conveying a message from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.