BJP skirting issue of snapping ties with Sena

Skirting the issue of snapping ties with the Shiv Sena on the "Mumbai for all" issue, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today sought to bring the Congress on the firing line by alleging that no leader of the ruling party has said that Srinagar also belongs to all Indians.

Skirting the issue of snapping ties with the Shiv Sena on the "Mumbai for all" issue, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today sought to bring the Congress on the firing line by alleging that no leader of the ruling party has said that Srinagar also belongs to all Indians.

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"There has been much debate on whether Mumbai belongs to all Indians. This is a needless controversy. My position is very clear. All of India belongs to all Indians without any basis of caste, religion, ethnicity and language," he said in his presidential address.

The BJP has always recognised linguistic, regional and religious identities as a reality of India, he said, adding all these identities eventually converge into a larger national identity of Indianness.

"There is absolutely no question of any conflict in these."

He, however, said he was both "amazed and saddened" that no leader of the Congress has stood up to say that just like Mumbai, Srinagar also belongs to all Indians and that Indians from other parts have the same rights of domicile and employment in Kashmir.