In response to a letter written by a coalition of 13 Opposition parties asking the BJP to stop hate politics, BJP president JP Nadda on Monday wrote an open letter in reply, and questioned the silence on communal violence in states ruled by Congress governments. He said the list of violence under Congress rule is long.
“Gujarat in 1969, Moradabad in 1980, Bhiwandi 1984, Meerut 1987, various incidents against Hindus in Kashmir valley throughout the 1980s, 1989 Bhagalpur, 1994 Hubballi... the list of communal violence during Congress rule is long,” Nadda wrote in his letter.
He spoke of the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013, Assam riots in 2012, political violence in West Bengal and Kerala, and corruption charges against Cabinet ministers in Maharashtra. He went on to accuse the Congress of discriminating against BR Ambedkar.
“... the most horrific massacres against Dalits and Tribals have taken place under Congress regimes. This is the same Congress that even got Dr Ambedkar defeated in Parliamentary elections," he continued.
He added that in Tamil Nadu, the ruling government has “left no stone unturned in verbally lynching, smearing, and humiliating one of the tallest music maestros” for expressing his political views. Nadda was referring to the trolling faced by Ilayaraja for comparing Modi to Ambedkar in the foreword of a book.
He reminded the Opposition of the BJP’s electoral success, and accused the Opposition of indulging in vote bank politics, and said that “rejected and dejected” Opposition parties must work towards the “politics of development”.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that the BJP points at its electoral success when questions are asked. “When you criticize the Modi government, in reply BJP leaders say that we have won elections. Then, likewise, they must stop criticizing Nehru, Indira, Rajiv, Narasimha Rao. All of them came to power after winning the elections,” Khera tweeted.
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