BJP slams Congress, takes potshots amid open rift in the opposition party

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 2

The BJP on Tuesday slammed the Congress for its alliance with the Indian Secular Front in West Bengal and similar alliances with political parties with Muslim “leanings” in Assam and Kerala, claiming that it had "no ideology" apart from "fulfilling the ambition of the Gandhi family".

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said “the Congress, which calls itself a secular party, has allied with the ISF (Indian Secular Front) in West Bengal, and with Indian Union Muslim League, which has an understanding with the Jamaat-e-Islami, in Kerala. In Assam, it has allied with Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).”

“All the alliances that Congress had formed have not been done for any good performance, good reforms or good governance. These alliances were done only to somehow retain the Gandhi family's political relevance. The Congress party has no ideology and is forming alliance wherever and with whoever they can,” he said.

Amid a vocal dissidence within the Opposition party, he also took a swipe saying its ideology is all about fulfilling the Gandhi family’s “ambition”, and "anyone speaking against it or standing with the rightful agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is castigated".

Patra said the Congress will “castigate” anyone who wants democracy in the party, wants its president to be elected, speaks in favour of politics of development or stands with Modi’s rightful agenda.

Calling the "G-23", a reference to the group of 23 Congress leaders who have called for an organisational overhaul in the party, an internal matter of party, Patra said it is “saddening” to see senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad and others being targeted. The Congress is now all about four leaders, he claimed, referring to party president Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Priyanka’s husband Robert Vadra.