Taking a dig at what it called the Congress led UPA Government's vote bank politics the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday resorted to 'Hindutva' card and said if remained unchecked the attempts to create special citizenship to Muslims could pave way for second partition of India.
After the BJP President Rajnath Singh's attacks on UPA government senior party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Kalyan Singh launched attacks on UPA for what they called its minorities' appeasement policies with latter going to the extend of saying that the left, the Congress and the SP could betray even the nation for their political gains.
Swaraj who presented resolution titled "UPA government's vote bank politics" at national council and Kalyan Singh who spoke in support of resolution said if this trend remained unchecked this could sow seeds of second division of India. "The BJP will resist this dangerous drift with all might at its command," said resolution adding Congress had made Muslim appeasement and vote bank politics the hall mark of governance.
There was a stiff competition going on not only among the UPA allies but also within the Congress with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the senior Union Ministers and key political figures in state trying to outdo each other in offering sops to Muslims. The Muslim appeasement had reached such dangerous proportions that Congress led government was opting to go soft against terrorism, said resolution. When Swaraj pointed out that Congress used posters of terrorist Afzal Guru and the ousted Iraq President Saddam Hussain in Kerala elections there were shouts of shame-shame.
{{/usCountry}}There was a stiff competition going on not only among the UPA allies but also within the Congress with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the senior Union Ministers and key political figures in state trying to outdo each other in offering sops to Muslims. The Muslim appeasement had reached such dangerous proportions that Congress led government was opting to go soft against terrorism, said resolution. When Swaraj pointed out that Congress used posters of terrorist Afzal Guru and the ousted Iraq President Saddam Hussain in Kerala elections there were shouts of shame-shame.
{{/usCountry}}Significantly Kalyan Singh used the occasion to refer to temple issue saying the 'Ram temple' was soul of Hindutva. Singh called upon the party to launch a campaign to write "We are proud of Hindutva" on each and every door. "Just do this experiment on my suggestion," said Singh who also launched an attack on UPA government for he called its dilly-dallying on the issue of hanging of parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru. "They want to defer the decision till Vidhan Sabha elections of four states," said Singh.
The UPA was formulating a 15-point programme for welfare of Muslims; he said adding UPA also proposed to reserve 15 per cent of the plan expenditure for the purpose. An 18,000 crore package was also being formulated for Muslim welfare; he said adding situation was fast turning to pre-1947 era. "If we do not wake up country would be divided again," he said.
Listing induction of a Muslim league minister in the union cabinet and scrapping of POTA as, what it termed 'shameful record' of Muslim appeasement the UPA government the resolution said the Congress could not escape plight of dismal plight of Muslims. "The Congress and many other parties flaunting 'secular' credentials had their vested interests in keeping Muslims poor," said the resolution. "By attempting to re-inject religion based quotas and reservation into India the Congress is opening old wounds. The BJP would like to remind the Indian people that the creation of separate electorates and the categorisation of society along religious lines which produced a separatist mindset and led to partition of India in 1947. It is precisely for this reason that the founding fathers of Republic kept the religion out of decision making by the state," said resolution.
Email Umesh Raghuvanshi: umeshraghuvanshi@hindustantimes.com