An acrimonious war of words has erupted between the Congress and the ruling BJP in the wake of the Gujarat Police’s affidavit which claims that activist Teesta Setalvad and others plotted to destabilise the Gujarat government after the 2002 riots, at the behest of Congress leader Ahmed Patel.

The Congress has rejected the allegations by the Gujarat Police against its late leader Ahmed Patel as “mischievous" and "manufactured".

Firing back at the BJP, the party said the conspiracy charge was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "systematic strategy" to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage in Gujarat back in 2002.