BJP demands Shashi Tharoor's apology over Kanhaiya Kumar-Bhagat Singh 'comparison'

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Monday asked Congress leader Shashi Tharoor to apologise to the nation for 'comparing' Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union president Kanhaiya Kumar with Bhagat Singh and said those who raise anti-national slogans can never be compared to the legendary freedom fighter.

"I would like to advise Shashi Tharoor, those raising slogans of "Bharat tere tukde honge, insha allah, insha allah" can never be Bhagat Singh," Vijayvargiya told ANI.

"I request him not to insult Bhagat Singh. He should apologise to the nation," he added.

Meanwhile, Tharoor has issued a clarification, saying all he meant was that the two men had certain qualities in common, a fact which the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) would never understand.

However, a rift seems to have appeared over this issue in the grand old party as Congress leader Ghulam Nabhi Azad flatly refused to back Tharoor's statement, saying there was only one Bhagat Singh and no one from the current generation could step in the shoes of the martyr.

Speaking on 'JNU and Nationalism' outside the administrative hall of the varsity yesterday, Tharoor while replying to a question from the audience admitted that there were some similarities between Kanhaiya and Bhagat Singh.