NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi persisted with his ‘Muslim League imprint’ attack on the Congress manifesto, the opposition party on Monday stepped up its counter-offensive, moving the Election Commission against his remarks while party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that “there is a stink of RSS” in Modi’s speeches.

The Congress alleged that the prime minister is resorting to the “cliched Hindu-Muslim script” as he is scared that the BJP may struggle to even cross the 180-seat mark in the Lok Sabha polls.

However, PM Modi again repeated the charge against the Congress at poll rallies in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, claiming that the country’s oldest party has lost people’s support due to its deeds and its recently released manifesto has the imprint of the pro-Partition Muslim League.

“The Congress is out of power for 10 years and we have been able to resolve all problems faced by the country. The Naxal menace has come down drastically. The Congress was soft on terrorism for vote-bank politics. Even its manifesto has the Muslim League imprint,” Modi said at a poll rally in Chandrapur in Vidarbha region.

Echoing the prime minister’s views, BJP chief JP Nadda also accused the Congress of appeasement in its manifesto and asked the party to explain why it was against the majority community.

Leading the counter charge, Kharge alleged the BJP’s “ideological ancestors” supported the British and the Muslim League against Indians in the freedom struggle.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Modi, Kharge in a post on X, said, “Even today, they are invoking the Muslim League against the ‘Congress Nyay Patra’, guided and shaped according to the aspirations, needs and demands of common Indians.” “Modi-Shah and their nominated president are today spreading falsehood about the Congress manifesto,” he alleged.

“There is a stink of RSS in Modi ji’s speeches, the BJP’s electoral graph is plunging day by day, therefore the RSS has started remembering its best friend — the Muslim League!,” Kharge said.

“There is only one truth — the Congress’ Nyay Patra reflects the hopes and aspirations of 140 crore people of India. Their combined strength will put an end to Modi ji’s 10 years of injustice,” he claimed.

After a Congress delegation met EC officials, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said they has filed a complaint against Modi for alleging that its manifesto attempts to divide the country and impose the pre-independence ideology of the Muslim League.

“We believe that the Prime Minister has no right to say such a thing. We have raised this matter with the Election Commission and have specifically requested them to take it seriously and take action on it,” senior leader Salman Khurshid said.

Earlier in the day, the Congress said Modi is scared over the prospect of the BJP struggling to cross the 180-seat mark in the Lok Sabha polls and again resorted to the “same cliched Hindu-Muslim script”.

In his post, Kharge alleged, “Modi-Shah’s ideological ancestors opposed Mahatma Gandhi’s call for ‘Quit India’ in 1942, which was the movement chaired by Maulana Azad.” Everyone knows how Syama Prasad Mookerjee formed his governments in Bengal, Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province in the 1940s in coalition with the Muslim League, the Congress chief said.

Did Mookerjee “not write to the then British governor about how the Quit India movement of 1942 can be ‘combated’ and how the Congress should be suppressed? And for this, he said that ‘Indians have to trust the British’,” Kharge asked.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the BJP is consistently losing ground which is why “the PM’s love for Muslim League has resurfaced”.

“After being in power for 10 years, when the country is at the brink of elections and the prime minister has to show his report card and ask for votes, he is nervous. He has once again resorted to the same cliched Hindu-Muslim script,” she said.

In a statement, Nadda repeated the charge that the Congress’ manifesto bears the imprint of the Muslim League.

The League had worked for reservation on religion lines in 1929 and the Congress is doing the same, he alleged.

“The Congress manifesto is a blueprint for division, a blatant replica of Jinnah’s Muslim League agenda. By prioritising appeasement politics over national unity, the Congress seeks to perpetuate division,” the BJP president alleged.

People have repeatedly rejected the Congress but it is determined to pursue appeasement politics and divide the country in its greed for power, he alleged.

Modi had on Saturday said, “Every page reeks of breaking India into pieces. The Congress manifesto reflects the same thinking that was prevalent in the Muslim League during the freedom movement.

“It completely bears the imprint of the Muslim League and whatever remains is dominated by the Leftists.”