Describing the Congress as the most “communal” party of the country, BJP president Rajnath Singh said that the Congress is suffering from “secularitis” and trying to polarise Muslim votes by intensifying its attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the run-up to the 2014 lok Sabha election.
Singh told mediapersons in Patna on Monday that the Congress-led UPA Government which has miserably failed to meet expectations of the common people on all fronts, now wants to divert the attention of the people from its failure by making consistent attacks on Modi and whipping up emotions of the people by raking up the issue of secularism and communalism.
“like encephalitis, secularitis is also a very dangerous disease and the country has to be protected from it,” he remarked while making a frontal attack on the Congress for its alleged dual policy on the secularism.
He said that all the Opposition parties should understand the strategy of the Congress and not fall into its well-laid trap as the Congress wants to rule the country by persuing the “divide and rule” policy.
He also took a dig at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his sudden opposition to Modi when he himself had advised Modi to provide his services outside Gujarat while speaking at a railway function in Gujarat in 2003.
Not ruling out the possibility of inducting new allies into the NDA fold before the 2014 lok Sabha election, he said that the BJP is fully committed to secularism and does not find that any party will hesitate to enter into an alliance with his party after the JD(U) left the NDA on the issue of Modi. He said that new allies will also join the NDA in the post-poll scenario.
To a query, he said that one should not draw a parallel between the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat as the Sikhs were butchered across the country on the provocation of a very senior Congress leader.
When asked whether his party will tender apology for the post-Godhra riots, Singh said, “All communal riots are unfortunate and that’s all I have to say about it.”
On hue and cry over police encounters in Gujarat, Singh said that it is not only Gujarat which has witnessed police encounters but such encounters take place in other States too. He said that investigation reports prepared on the basis of probe into these encounters have also not been made public on many occasions.
The BJP president said that the country is going through a phase of crisis, caused by the total non-performance of the UPA Government. The country is witnessing a jobless growth under the UPA regime as only 27 lakhs jobs were created from 2004 to 2009 against 6.70 crore jobs created between 1998 and 2004 when the NDA was in the power, he added.
“The UPA Government’s performance on various fronts like economic development, internal and external security and foreign policy are completely unimpressive,” he added.
“When the NDA Government was in the power, the growth rate was pegged at 8.4 per cent but now it has slowed down to nearly 5 per cent,” he added.
He said that the fiscal deficit which is already a matter of great concern is likely to grow further when the UPA Government will start implementing its various welfare schemes in the election year.
He also took a dig at the UPA Government for alarming devaluation in the rupee, wondering why the exports are showing only a negligible growth despite the value of rupee touching a new low all these weeks.
The BJP president said that the UPA Government’s wrong economic policies are creating economic or income disparity but the Government still dares to claim that the country is progressing on the economic front.
Describing the natural calamity in Uttarakhand as very sad and heart rendering, the BJP president said that the UPA Government should review the performance of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), particularly when the CAG had also cautioned the Government against the huge expenditure made on the NDMA. He said that the Uttarakhand Government had miserably failed in providing adequate assistance to the people affected by the flash floods in the Himalayan State.
He said that the Government should formulate a comprehensive national security policy to deal with such type of unforeseen eventualities.
The BJP has already asked its MPs, MlAs and other people’s representatives to contribute their one-month salary for the benefit of those suffering from the nature’s fury in Uttarakhand. He also asked the UPA Government to reconsider the issue of linking various rivers of the country afresh, particularly when the Supreme Court had already issued a direction to the Government in this regard.
Singh said that his party is not against the Food Security Bill if it is passed with certain amendments and adequate safeguards are made for pre-empting any attack on the federal character of the country once the Bill is implemented.