Congress leader and former Union Minister M. Veerappa Moily attacked the BJP for the communal tension in the coastal districts, and said the people were mature enough to understand who were dividing society and who stood for development.
He was speaking to presspersons here on Sunday.
“They [BJP] play the communal card in every election. They did it on the coast even during the last Assembly elections. Yet, the Congress bagged most of the seats there. They did in Gujarat in the recent Assembly elections and yet the Congress did well. Their poll approach with a communal agenda is outdated. People are mature enough to make choices. If the BJP continues to play the communal card, it will soon be irrelevant in the country’s politics,” he said. Mr. Moily, along with another senior Congressman S.R. Patil, was here to collect opinions of Congressmen in the Hyderabad Karnataka region for the party’s poll manifesto. Pointing at the Gujarat polls results, the former Chief Minister said his party felt like having won the elections despite losing it and the BJP felt defeated despite having unexpectedly won. “All BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, felt threatened about the Congress’ performance at the poll. Their efforts to win over the voters went in vain. Finally, they resorted to emotional blackmail and spreading misinformation and falsehoods,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Union government for “discontinuing” several social security schemes that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government initiated, Mr. Moily said the BJP was known for “demolition” whereas the Congress for “construction”. “They [BJP] abolished Planning Commission. They destabilised various social security schemes such as rural employment guarantee scheme, Backward Regions Grant Fund and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan by either discontinuating them or cutting fund allocations. They believe in demolition and we believe in construction,” he said.
Manifesto
Responding to a query, Mr. Moily said the Congress manifesto would have two parts: achievements of Congress-led government in the last five years and assurances for next five years. He hinted that five major assurances that would benefit the majority of people in the State would find prime place in the manifesto and form the core of the poll campaign.
Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil and Information Technology & Biotechnology Minister Priyank Kharge were among those present.
