New Delhi : The BJP will hold nationwide protests from today against Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s “Hindu terror” remarks, Rajnath Singh said after being elected party president on Wednesday.

“The recent statement of Shinde shows the government is not serious in its fight against terrorism,” he said, addressing party workers here.

“Just for vote bank politics, they are poisoning the atmosphere of the nation with communalism. We condemn the statement,” he added.

On Sunday, the Home Minister had said, “Whether it is the BJP or RSS, their training camps are promoting Hindu terrorism.”

Backing his comments, Home Secretary RK Singh had said on Tuesday, “After investigation into the blasts in Samjhauta Express, at Mecca Masjid and at Ajmer Sharif, we have 10 names of those who were associated with the RSS at some point or the other.”

However, Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi on Tuesday said it was a “slip of the tongue” by the Home Minister and that the Congress did not believe in identifying terror with religion.

BJP’s newly-elected president Rajnath Singh has said that protests and rallies would be held across the nation and effigies representing the UPA government would be burnt by party workers to register their protest.

His comments were countered by senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who said: “Rajnath Singh should say why he met Pragya Singh Thakur and Colonel Purohit in jail, who were arrested in terror activities.”

Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and Pragya Singh Thakur have been accused of orchestrating the Malegaon blasts of 2008.