BJP's 'old trick' to rake up religious issues at last min Pilot

Jaipur: Accusing the ruling BJP of communal polarisation to deflect attention from real issues in assembly polls, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot has said raking up religious matters at the last minute is an "old, tried and tested trick" of the ruling party but it will not work now.

He said no one was talking about the Ram Temple issue in the last four and a half years and now when the BJP was "losing all assembly elections", it was "clutching at straws".

In an interview to PTI, Pilot also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to implement the "Uttar Pradesh template" of not giving tickets to certain communities in Rajasthan, but was unable

to do so because of the people of Tonk.

"They (the BJP) are trying to create issues so that people's attention gets deflected," he said when asked about the Ram temple matter taking centre stage amid elections in five states.

He said people want answers on issues like agrarian crisis, non-performing assets of banks, joblessness, internal security, inflation, and farmer suicides.

"Nobody wants to answer those questions. So the easiest way out is to start talking about mandir and masjid (temple and mosque) and Hindus and Muslims... It is not the job of governments to make churches, gurdwaras and temples. PTI