BJP compromising national interest for alliances: Congress

Party hints at protest in Parliament today

The Congress continued with its aggressive stand against the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday, accusing the ruling party of compromising national interests for “opportunistic alliances” with the Peoples Democratic Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

Congress sources hinted that the party would protest in Parliament on Monday.

The party was reacting to the controversial remark of recently released Kashmiri separatist leader Masarat Alam that J&K is India-occupied Kashmir and to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee stance “eulogising the assassins of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Army chief Gen. Vaidya.”

Congress Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said the responsibility in a coalition could be attributed to a single party alone. “Many questions have been raised, which are directly linked to the nation’s integrity and unity. The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should clear their stand on these issues,” he said.

“They cannot say that these are the responsibilities only of their allies PDP and Akali Dal. In a coalition government, the principle is one of collective responsibility,” Mr. Sharma said.

Referring to J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s remarks soon after assuming office, Mr. Sharma said: “First credit was given to Pakistan and separatists for peaceful polls in Jammu and Kashmir. Then separatist Masarat Alam was released. Alam now calls Kashmir a territory occupied by India.”

He said the PDP-BJP alliance had become a cause for concern, adding that the foreign policy of the nation cannot be decided in a common minimum programme of a coalition in a State.

“The SGPC’s ‘Nanakshahi’ calendar features anniversaries of assassins of Indira Gandhi and former Army chief Gen. Vaidya as occasions to be commemorated,” he said, adding that the Congress did not want to interfere in the SGPC or in Sikh affairs, but the BJP, including the PM, need to clarify their stand since “the SAD controls the SGPC and the BJP is part of the government in Punjab.”