Alluding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tagline "na khaunga, na khane dunga", the BJP on Tuesday alleged that Congress was defending the corrupts and dismissed its "vendetta" charge even as it defended the raids on NDTV saying the Government would not come in the way of law enforcing agencies.
The BJP charged Congress with protecting "corruption and "corrupt people" like business magnate Vijay Mallya.
Reacting to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) statement that the BJP was "hero on TV but zero on the ground", BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said it was other way round so and amply reflected in the stupendous victory of the party in Uttar Pradesh , winning 325 assembly seats.
Addressing a Press conference here Patra said as against Modi's slogan 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas', the Congress has 'Parivar ka saath, parivar ka vikas'. Strongly condemning CPI-M leader Prakash Karat and Congress leader P Chidambaram's alleged attempt to drag army chief Gen. Bipin Rawat's name into politics and an academician comparing him with the British officer Gen. Dyer of Jallianwala infamy, the BJP leader said such talks provide "oxygen" to Pakistan and give bad name to "one of the most professional armies in the world" which is sought even by separatists during floods in Kashmir.
He condemned Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar sitting with Kashmiri separatist Syed Ahmed Shah Geelani and having "a hearty laugh" when the latter took pot shots at Indian army. He said the Congress party should have kicked out Aiyar from the party.
Parta asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi whether it also sought to discuss the likes of Iyer, Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and their comments while debating the performance of the Modi government. " You say these are their (Congress leaders) personal views, then who is Congress IJ ", he asked and went on to add "Congress is nothing but one family".
Referring to CWC's view that there was "an atmosphere of fear" during the present regime, the BJP spokesperson again asked, "Does Congress know what fear is IJ" Patra recalled the 1984 riots which he said "instilled sense of fear among people". Similarly, he recalled the Emergency imposed by the Congress. In the Modi government, he said " Yes, there is a fear but only for cheats and corrupts while honest people can have all the relief."
Answering a questions relating to raids on NDTV, the BJP leader said law enforcement agencies would not be prevented from performing their duties whether it was a question of one paise or one thousand paise. He quoted Modi's tagline "Na khaunga aur na khane dunga". He alleged that in contrast, Congress allowed Rs 1000 crore in the kitty of Mallya. He said Congress's description of "raids" as "a vendetta" showed that it was "protecting the corruption".