In a veiled attack on BJP, Union Minister Manish Tewari on Sunday said communal and fascist forces, which are raising their “ugly heads” under the garb of nationalism, should not be allowed to come to the power as it is not in interest of the country.
Congress had a history and tradition of sacrifices for safeguarding the unity and integrity of the country, while other parties had only the “history of hatred” to their credit, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister said.
He was addressing a meeting of party leaders and workers at Mullanpur Dakha near Ludhiana on Sunday.
“....allowing communal and fascist forces to grab power will not be in the interest of the country,” said Mr. Tewari.
He asked Congress workers to create awareness among people against “communal and fascist” forces.
Claiming that political atmosphere in Punjab was perfectly favourable for Congress, the Ludhiana MP claimed that people were fed up with the seven-year long “misrule” of the Akali-BJP alliance.
Mr. Tewari said, the Akali-BJP alliance had only made “hoax” promises and not delivered anything on the ground.
He urged people to ask the Akalis for their balance sheet as what they had claimed to do and what they have actually done.
“The only thing where they have an unbeaten record is in accumulating the state debts and pushing Punjab towards bankruptcy,” he said.
Compared to that, people are aware of the ten years of “great” achievements of the UPA government at the Centre, which has changed the face of the nation, the minister claimed.
The minister told the party workers that the forthcoming parliamentary elections will give them a chance to show their resentment against the state government.
“They must not take your vote for granted,” he cautioned while maintaining that an “imminent defeat” in the Lok Sabha polls will hopefully serve as a warning signal to them and they may pay some attention to the public welfare.
Paying tribute to former minister Joginderpal Pandey on his twenty-ninth martyrdom anniversary in Ludhiana on Sunday, Mr. Tewari said not only had the Congress leaders and workers laid down their lives during the independent struggle against the foreign rulers, even after independence they laid down their lives for the sake of unity and integrity of the country.
He said late Joginderpal Pandey was one such great martyr.
The Union Minister dared all those who were claiming to safeguard the national interest to cite one example that could match the sacrifices of Congress leaders.
“Even today, such forces under the garb of nationalism were trying to raise their ugly heads with a single aim to divide the people that can ultimately lead to further division of the country,” he said.
Mr. Tewari, whose father was assassinated by terrorists in 1984, stated that only Congress could provide the country a stable and secular government which will be sensitive towards the sentiments of all sections of the society.
He pointed out that in Punjab also it was mainly the Congress leaders, led by late Beant Singh and others like late Pandey who laid down their lives to retrieve the peace and harmony in Punjab.
