Congress could have been more vocal about ‘cow vigilantism’: Shashi Tharoor in Raipur

The Congress has been cornering the BJP for allegedly inducing religious tensions across the country by raking the party’s “demolition action policy” to deal with illegal constructions and purported encroachments.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, speaking at the party’s ongoing 85th plenary session in Raipur, said the party should have been more vocal about the issues such as “murder in the name of cow vigilantism” and the “bulldozer demolition drive” in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states. Tharoor was speaking on the second day of the three-day key party session in the Chattisgarh capital on Saturday.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. ((Anshuman Poyrekar/HT File Photo))

“We should be absolutely clear in our ideological stance in favour of inclusive India. The tendency to downplay some positions or avoid taking a stand on some issues in order not to alienate what we assume to be the sentiments of the majority only plays into the BJP's hands," news agency PTI quoted the Thiruvananthapuram MP as saying.

"We must have the courage of our convictions. We could have been more vocal on the Bilkis Bano outrage, attacks on Christian churches, murder in the name of cow vigilantism, bulldozer demolition of Muslim homes and similar issues," he added.

Tharoor also said that all efforts must be made to strengthen the secular foundations of the country and hailed the “success” of the party’s recently concluded campaign Rahul Gandhi led ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.

The Congress has been cornering the BJP for allegedly inducing religious tensions across the country by raking the party’s “demolition action policy” to deal with illegal constructions and purported encroachments.

Veteran leader Sonia Gandhi also slammed the BJP in her address for “fuelling hatred” in society. She claimed this is a challenging phase for the Congress and the country, as a whole, and alleged that the BJP-RSS has captured all the institutions.