A fierce political crossfire erupted on Tuesday after Saharanpur Congress MP Imran Masood reportedly described Diwali and runaway air pollution as "man-made diseases." The backlash was instant. Within hours, the Bharatiya Janata Party mounted a coordinated offensive against the opposition lawmaker, accusing the Congress high command of repeatedly demeaning Hindu traditions ahead of the festive season.
Masood moved swiftly to douse the fire. He rejected the characterization outright. "I never said anything about Diwali," Masood said, insisting his warning focused strictly on catastrophic seasonal pollution rather than the celebration itself. The parliamentarian noted that he celebrates Diwali personally and argued his comments addressed toxic spikes in northern India's Air Quality Index. "All I said was that the AQI is in such a bad condition that it gets much worse during Diwali," Masood said. "Had they been working to control the AQI, it would not have been like this during Diwali. Pollution is a human-induced problem."
But the ruling party refused to ease the pressure. BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi launched an unsparing broadside against the Congress, claiming the remark mirrored past derogatory statements targeting Sanatan Dharma. "Congress party has lost its mental balance," Tripathi said. "On one hand, they call Sanatan Dharma dengue, malaria and mosquitoes, and on the other, they keep insulting Hindutva. And now, Imran Masood is saying that Diwali is a disease. The same Diwali is celebrated by crores of Hindus to mark the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya. The Congress party will have to face the consequences for this."
Lines have hardened across northern political battlegrounds.
The friction follows days of sharp acrimony over remarks by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who described Diwali as an "Eid of happiness" aimed at bringing communities together. That phrasing drew instant condemnation from the BJP. Party spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused the Congress leadership of engaging in calculated vote-bank appeasement during major cultural observances, while Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president and Vadodara MP Dr Hemang Joshi sharply targeted both Kharge and Rahul Gandhi over the terminology.
With regional winter smog descending over northern plains and municipal regulators struggling to contain deteriorating air quality benchmarks, the cross-party clash over festive curbs and air quality accountability is set to sharpen across upcoming state legislative debates.