Apprehensive of defeat, Congress invoking threat to secularism, says BJP

Stepping up its attack, the BJP on Friday said the Congress was employing every trick, including invoking a threat to secularism, to prevent it from coming to power.

BJP president Rajnath Singh said the Congress seemed to have accepted defeat in the general election, given the mood in the country against its “misrule” and the prevalence of “corruption.” In his address at the National Executive meeting here, he accused the Congress of going to the extent of ensuring that the country got a majboor (weak) government instead of a mazboot (strong) regime.

“There are some foreign powers in whose best interest is a weak government in India and the Congress is aiding in that,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar quoted Mr. Singh as having told the meeting.

Taking a dig at the Congress for supporting the AAP, another spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said that instead of being with the “aam aadmi [common man]” the Congress hand was now with the Aam Aadmi Party.

At Friday’s meet, the BJP gave final touches to its resolutions on the political and economic situation, both of which will be passed at the two-day National Council meeting beginning Saturday.

Among the issues being deliberated as part of the political resolution are Pakistan-sponsored terrorism; attacks against Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh; India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement; attempts by the Congress to malign the BJP through non-governmental organisations; internal security, particularly the terror attack at Narendra Modi’s Patna rally last year; problems of Tamil Nadu fishermen; and how other parties are “using the corrupt crutches of the Congress to come to power.”

The economic resolution would discuss the state of agriculture, exports and imports and the growth rate.

Earlier, countering the Congress statement that the 2014 Lok Sabha polls would be a fight between “communal” and “secular” forces, the BJP came out with a list of riots — their numbers and fallout — that took place under various Congress governments.

Accusing the Congress of being the “most communal party in India,” Mr. Javadekar said it was creating fear in the minds of the people using false allegations against the BJP and its leadership.