Sources said that party president Sonia Gandhi made it clear that “the leadership agrees on principle that they must fight the BJP and the RSS over the question of nationalism.” On Wednesday evening, the party staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha before Ms. Irani began her speech, which was later applauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Thursday, Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, objected to Ms. Irani’s repeated attempt to debate Mahishasura, whom she referred to as a demon decapitated by Goddess Durga, saying that the Minister cannot bring up “blasphemous” narratives that are baseless and are confined to campuses.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Sharma said the party is interested in debating nationalism as long as the ruling party doesn’t commit “blasphemy” or “misrepresent facts.”

“Why shouldn’t we discuss nationalism? And why shouldn’t we stop them from doing blasphemous talk?” said Mr.Sharma.

“India is a 83 % Hindu majority country. We don’t want religious sentiments to be hurt. Even if something was said about Prophet [Mohammad], Congress would not have kept quiet.”