The BJP and the Congress on Saturday engaged in a fresh slugfest over the former’s general secretary incharge of Uttar Pradesh Amit Shah’s reported statement seeking “revenge” for the insult in Muzaffarnagar.
The Congress complained to the Election Commission demanding Shah’s arrest and a ban on his campaigning while the BJP defended him by dragging Congress president Sonia Gandhi into the controversy over her appeal to the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid contending that the attempt to polarise the elections had been initiated by the “so-called secular” party.
“There has been a lot of discussion on what Amit Shah has said in a public meeting in Muzaffarnagar. He actually captured the mood of nation. Sonia Gandhi has also sought vote on religious grounds. The attempt of polarising the vote was initiated by the so-called secular parties. We see nothing wrong in Amit Shah’s statement,” said BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, adding even UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has been heard seeking votes on caste and religion basis.
Shah reportedly said in an election meeting in western UP that this lok Sabha polls is about voting out the Government that protects and gives compensation to those who killed Jats.
“It is about badla (revenge) and protecting izzat (honour),” Shah reportedly said. The Congress swiftly moved the Election Commission against Shah’s “hate speeches” alleging that Modi and his aides were attempting to play the “2002 communal game” of Gujarat all over the country.
In the complaint, KC Mittal, secretary of AICC’s legal department, accused Shah of “creating animosity between communities”. The party said Shah has committed “an offence under Section 125 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 and it calls for immediate registration of FIR and his arrest along with other BJP workers for their common intention to commit this offence”.
AICC spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said: “Modi and Co were once again laying the game plan to replicate the Gujarat violence in 2002 all over the country by only talking of cutting into pieces, killing, taking revenge and destroying. But to a question about Imran Masood’s comments against whom an FIR was lodged, he recalled that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi had disapproved of Masood’s remarks in a public rally in his constituency.
As political temperature soared, reactionary statements by the leaders across the party lines also continued. While Congress minority cell president Khurshid Ahmed called Modi a “lafanga” (ruffian) and a “tapori” (lout), Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, retaliating to Masood’s “chop-Modi” remarks, asserted in a rally in her State that post-polls “we will see who will be cut into pieces”.
Raje said, “A Congress candidate in Saharanpur had said that he will cut Modi into pieces. let the elections get over and then we shall see who will be cut into pieces.” The BJP also came under attack from the Samajwadi Party, the AAP and the JD(U). The SP called Modi and his aides as “fascists” while the BSP alleged that the BJP’s PM candidate was using Shah to vitiate the atmosphere and cause communal polarisation while himself wearing the “mask” of development.
KC Tyagi of the JD(U) said Shah was speaking like a dictator and accused his party of trying to create fear in the minds of the minority community. The AAP asked the Election Commission to register a case against the former Gujarat Minister for spreading communal hatred.
Union Minister and party spokesperson Manish Tewari also castigated Shah for his comments on Muzaffarnagar riots. “The 2014 election is more than anything... A clash between two competing visions -- a plural, secular and inclusive vision represented by the Congress, and a theocratic and majoritarian vision represented by the BJP.