BJP on Saturday accused Congress and the Left of making a “hue and cry” over Varun Gandhi’s alleged hate speech while “adopting double standards” on the issue of communalism.
“Look at speeches made by Congress minority cell chief Iman Kidwai recently and PDP Chairman Abdul Abdul Nasser
Madhani, supporting the Left, in the past. They are highly provocative and there is no action against them,” BJP national Secretary Balbir K Punj said.
BJP had recently lodged a complaint with the Election Commission accusing Kidwai of having said in Chandigarh that he regretted not being a Mufti which would have enabled him to issue just one fatwa to Muslims not to go with BJP, as otherwise it would amount to committing Kufr (blasphemy).
Punj, also a spokesperson of BJP, said at a meet-the-leader programme in Kozhikode that Madhani was not only the prime accused in the 1998 Coimbatore serial bomb blasts case but “evidence had been found against him for sending youths to Kashmir for training in extremist activities”.
Madhani escaped further course of legal action only because the DMK Government in Tamil Nadu, supporting the Congress, did not appeal against the Coimbatore Court’s verdict, (exonerating him), he said.
“Varun has already said the CD (of his speech) is manipulated. Therefore, before accusing him, the Congress and Left will have to do a lot of introspection about their behaviour,” he said.