A day after Union home minister Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha that “no Hindu can ever be a terrorist,” a special NIA court in Mumbai acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur.

The ruling has set off a fierce political reaction, with BJP leaders calling it vindication, and Opposition voices alleging failure of justice and accountability.

Speaking to the reporters, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Union home minister also told in the House yesterday that Hindus by philosophy, cannot be terrorists. But during the Congress rule, a terminology was coined to appease a particular community- 'Hindu terror'. Hindus and terror are two opposite concepts. For me, it is a matter of immense satisfaction that whatever the Union HM told in the Parliament, today a Mumbai Court also demolished the concept of Hindu terror and whoever was accused in the name of 'Hindu terror'."

BJP MP Ravi Kishan said, “We don't know whether to be happy or sad. My sister Sadhvi Pragya's entire body is paralysed. What must the accused and their families have gone through who faced the false allegations. Who will return those 17 years?"

"The Congress that coined the term Bhagwa Terrorism must answer. They are all accountable. The home minister said it yesterday, and it is proven today that a Hindu cannot be a terrorist. We will demand an answer in the Parliament on the term 'Bhagwa Terrorism',” he added.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey echoed the sentiment, saying, “What did the Union home minister say in the Rajya Sabha yesterday? A Hindu cannot be a terrorist. All the terrorists in this country have only one religion. It has been proven. Congress did the dirty work of spreading the term 'Saffron Terrorism'. Congress will have to face the consequences. Instead of catching Pakistani terrorists, why were the people of India accused?”

Union minister Ramdas Athawale said the court’s decision came down to lack of evidence: “The hearing went on for many years in the NIA court. The court had to acquit all the accused because there was no evidence against them. There was no evidence against them, so the court had to acquit them. Terrorists are only terrorists; they have no religion.”

BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad said, "Congress's conspiracy of Hindu terror has been destroyed. Colonel Purohit, who fought against terrorism in Kashmir, was accused. Pragya Thakur was accused of using her motorcycle in the blast. She was tortured so much that she could not walk after that. This was a Congress conspiracy for sheer vote bank politics."

Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said, “In 2008, Congress falsely accused Pragya Thakur and others in this case. They spread the new narrative of 'saffron terrorism' for their vote bank politics. Today, after 17 years, the NIA court has acquitted all the accused of their charges. I think, the Congress should apologise to all those who were tortured in this case.”

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said, “The sinister conspiracy by the Congress to manufacture the bogey of ‘Saffron Terror’ has not just collapsed — it has been buried for good. Those like Sonia Gandhi, P. Chidambaram, and Sushilkumar Shinde, who led this malicious campaign, owe an unconditional apology to Hindus for maligning Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan is sacred. Hindus can never be terrorists.”

On the other side, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the outcome and process of justice. "Six namazis were killed in the blast and nearly 100 were injured. They were targeted for their religion. A deliberately shoddy investigation/prosecution is responsible for the acquittal. Will the Modi & Fadnavis governments appeal the judgement the way they swiftly demanded stay in the Mumbai train blasts acquittals? Will Maharashtra’s “secular” political parties demand accountability?"

"Remember, in 2017, NIA had tried to get Sadhvi Pragya acquitted. The same person would go on to be a BJP MP in 2019. Karkare had uncovered the conspiracy in Malegaon & was unfortunately killed by Pakistani terrorists in the 26/11 attacks. The BJP MP went on record saying that she had cursed him and his death was a consequence of his curse," he added.

"This is the “tough on terror” Modi government. The world will remember that it made a terror accused a Member of Parliament,” he said.

Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav said, “I have not read the report (Special NIA court verdict in Malegaon bomb blast case) yet. The culprits should get the punishment. I hope this isn't an effort to suppress the news by bringing up another news. (US imposing) tariff is a big issue.”

Congress leader Kamal Nath responded to the verdict saying, “Whoever is affected will appeal it. BJP may say whatever it wants, but it is a court's decision, and it is appealable. They will definitely re-appeal.”

NCP (SP) leader Majeed Memon said: “After today’s verdict, the question arises - has justice been served in the 2008 terror incident? The victims, through this judgment, have been told that those brought before the court were not guilty. But someone did commit the crime, and that person is still roaming free even after 17 years.”

Congress MP Vivek Tankha said, "It is shocking. This should have never happened because if the blast happened, then someone must have done something. There must have been an investigation and there should have been proof. Now, the court is saying that the accused have been acquitted for lack of proof. Whose fault is that?"

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said, "Recently, all the accused in the Mumbai serial blast were acquitted. What kind of investigation was it? The police are not able to provide proof. I am concerned about the investigation. If not them, then someone else did it. But who did it? It is a failure of the police department.”