Cong can even join hands with terrorists to be in power: BJP
New Delhi: Accusing the BJP of having links with terrorists and playing a "disgusting game" to hollow out the country under the garb of nationalism, the Congress on Saturday asked the saffron party to introspect as to how such elements were finding their way into its fold and provide an explanation for it. In an all-out attack on the BJP, the Congress held press conferences in 23 cities across the country to counter what it said was the BJP's "fake nationalism claims" and to take the message to the grassroots level that the ruling party has "connections" with individuals who have indulged in heinous crimes and terror acts.
In a tweet in Hindi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The BJP has links with terrorists, what is this relationship called?" "Today 23 of our leaders and spokespersons exposed BJP's links with terrorists by holding press conferences in different cities of the country," Ramesh said, using the hashtag 'TerroristBJPBhaiBhai'.
Hitting back at the Congress, the BJP cited various past incidents to allege the Congress can join hands with even terrorists to be in power. Slamming the Congress, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited the reported remarks of the then Union minister Salman Khurshid that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was in tears on seeing the pictures of the Batla House encounter and the party's attack on the Gujarat government headed by then chief minister Narendra Modi over the police killing of suspected terrorist Ishrat Jahan.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar gave examples to support the claim that the persons caught in several terror-related and other crimes, including the Udaipur and Amravati killings, were linked to the saffron party.
Kumar, a former IPS, alleged that Mohammad Riyaz Attari, one of the accused in Kanhaiya Lal's murder in Udaipur, was a BJP worker. "Attari had joined the BJP in the presence of a senior local leader and he was seen attending numerous party programmes in the presence of senior BJP leaders," Kumar said. "Recently it was revealed that Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Talib Hussain Shah, who had been captured in Jammu and Kashmir by the local residents, was a BJP office-bearer there. Before the arrest, he had been planning attacks on the Amarnath Yatra," the Congress leader said. At a press conference in Raipur, Congress leader Pawan Khera said Congress has never favoured doing politics on the issue of terrorism, but the way the "links of terrorists and criminals with the BJP are coming to light one after another, it has become necessary to ask questions and put facts before people."
"In the garb of nationalism, the BJP is playing a disgusting game to hollow out the country," said Khera. At a press conference in Ahmedabad, Congress's Rajya Sabha member Depender Hooda said the reports about "terrorists and criminals" having links with the BJP a matter of concern for the country.
