Congress on Saturday staged demonstrations across Madhya Pradesh to protest controversial statements by State Tribal Affairs Minister Vijay Shah and Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and the Indian Army.

Meanwhile, BJP Lok Sabha Member from Mandla in MP, Faggan Singh Kulaste, also got embroiled in the ongoing controversy after an apparent slip of the tongue when he referred to terrorists as ‘our terrorists’ in a statement made in Dindori district.

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In Indore, Congress workers put a blindfold on the eyes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo and placed a lock and chain over his mouth, symbolically depicting him as ‘Dhritrashtra’ from the Mahabharata for remaining silent on the controversial statements by three senior BJP leaders in MP.

In Ratlam, Women Congress members garlanded Vijay Shah’s photo with bangles, symbolising cowardice.

Congress leaders and workers also burnt effigies and blackened the photos of the three BJP leaders in various cities, towns, and rural areas across MP.

In Bhopal, a meeting of ex-servicemen was held at the state Congress headquarters.

At the meeting, retired Major Shyamsundar said that the statements by the three BJP leaders have hurt even former soldiers.

He said that if the government fails to take strict action, it will also be held responsible.

He announced that if no action is taken against the leaders, ex-servicemen across the country will take to the streets in protest, with the entire nation joining them.

During protests against the leaders in Ujjain and Mandsaur, clashes also broke out between Congress workers and the police.