Panaji:  The Goa Congress today criticised state Shiv Sena president Shivprasad Joshi for praising the right wing Sri Ram Sene and stating that many people in neighbouring Karnataka cannot sing complete national anthem.

Joshi yesterday said though Goans are patriots, many people in Karnataka do not even know how to sing the national anthem.

The Sena leader had also hailed the Sene and its controversial chief Pramod Muthalik for doing a commendable job of protecting women.

"Shiv Senas praising of Shri Ram Sene displays their mindset though its not at all surprising. Moreover, the moral policing hypocrites should introspect first," Goa Congress spokesman Sunil Kawthankar told PTI.

Reacting to Joshis statement on singing of the national anthem, the Congress leader said the remarks regarding people of Karnataka are "completely unfortunate and condemnable".

Referring to incomplete printing of national anthem in the Marathi subject textbooks of class II in Goa, Kawthankar asked, "where was Shiv Sena when incomplete national anthem was printed in thousands of Gomant Bharti books? Is their nationalism selective?"

In the wake of the Congress allegation that the books carried incomplete national anthem, the state government recently ordered reprinting/replacement of several thousand books.