The Congress leader and former minister Abdul Gani Vakil said BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narinder Modi's role in 2002 Gujarat riots bars him from the top political seat of the country. Vakil said this while addressing the party workers convention at RS Pura on Friday, adding that the communal violence in Gujarat had shaken the secular credentials of India.
He said if any other party, other than the Congress, came to power in the centre, then mid-term polls were inevitable.
"Whenever any other party, including BJP, got a chance to rule the country, they could not complete full term resulting in uncertainty and instability," said Vakil.
The BJP led NDA government had tenure from 1999-2004, though the parliamentary elections were advanced by few months.
The Congress leader said, "The then BJP government, at the centre, had brought humiliation and disrespect to the country, as its then foreign minister Jaswant Singh handed over two terrorists to Pakistan at Kandhar, which encouraged terrorism.
Vakil said BJP was equally responsible for the terrorist attacks in India by these militants.
India was forced to release three terrorists, including Azar Masood, in exchange for the 176 passengers on board Indian airlines plane that was hijacked by the terrorists in December 1999.
The former minister cautioned people against alleged divisive forces which he said could disintegrate this country on the basis of race and religion.
{{/usCountry}}The former minister cautioned people against alleged divisive forces which he said could disintegrate this country on the basis of race and religion.
{{/usCountry}}