Pawan Khera likens Modi to Masood Azhar, Osama; sparks row

During the debate on India TV, Khera mentioned that NSA Ajit Doval's son had business links with Pakistanis and asked BJP to come clean on this.

He then said that PM Modi had a habit of "hiding" behind terrorists and not answering questions.

Replying to Khera, Patra said despite the differences between their parties he shouldn't have spoken about the PM this way.

Union Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was among the first ones to slam Khera over his comments. She tweeted: Shocking conduct by @INCIndia spokesperson. Demeaning & Disgraceful!

While BJP's tweet read, "Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera says that MODI stands for Masood, Osama, Dawood, and ISI. Do we need enemies like Pakistan when we have Congress?"

Soon, other Twitter users joined the chorus.

When Khera was asked to comment on the uproar, he reminded of PM Modi's past actions.

He said PM Modi accused his predecessor Dr. Manmohan Singh of colluding with Pakistan to defeat him before Gujarat assembly elections.

"They keep insulting Congress' leaders from Jawaharlal Nehru to (Congress President) Rahul Gandhi. Why should I not be outraged," Khera told Times Now.

With election season officially here, it won't be wrong to anticipate more such controversies and heated debates in coming days.

On Saturday, PM Modi kicked off the Main Bhi Chowkidar campaign to rebuke Congress' Chowkidar Chor Hai allegations.

A short while ago, PM Modi added the prefix Chowkidar to his Twitter name and several top BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, followed suit.