New Delhi, Nov 11 : The BJP on Wednesday accused the opposition INDIA bloc of pursuing politics based on religious appeasement and alleged that its objectives were to capture power, divide society and spread hatred towards Indian culture and Hinduism.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, party national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi cited recent remarks by several opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad and Samajwadi Party leader Sanatan Pandey, to accuse the opposition alliance of disrespecting India’s cultural and religious traditions.
Trivedi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had repeatedly flagged what he described as the INDIA bloc’s “destructive design”.
He alleged that the Congress and its allies had a history of insulting Hinduism and Indian culture while pursuing what he termed minority appeasement for electoral gains.
Taking exception to Kharge’s reported description of Diwali as ‘Khushiyon Ki Eid’, Trivedi said the Congress president’s remark reflected a lack of respect for India’s traditions.
He contrasted the remark with Diwali greetings extended by leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as the display of Diwali greetings at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.
“The Indonesian prime minister has no hesitation in extending Diwali greetings, Malaysian President Anwar Ibrahim uses the word Diwali, and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai displays the word Diwali. But the Congress president chooses to call it ‘Khushiyon Ki Eid’,” Trivedi said.
He also referred to remarks by Congress leaders Imran Masood and Sonia Gandhi, alleging that their statements reflected an anti-Hindu and anti-India outlook.
Targeting the Samajwadi Party, Trivedi criticised Sanatan Pandey for defending the police firing on kar sevaks during the Ayodhya movement in the early 1990s.
He questioned what he described as a contradiction between Pandey’s remarks and the reported plan of SP president Akhilesh Yadav to visit Ayodhya with his family on December 12 to offer prayers.
“One Pandey talks about ordering the firing, while the other talks about visiting Ayodhya for darshan. The people of Uttar Pradesh understand the Samajwadi Party’s intentions,” he said.
Trivedi alleged that the Congress and the Samajwadi Party either insulted Hinduism and Indian culture or invoked them for political benefits.
He claimed that such attitudes were prevalent across the INDIA bloc and accused opposition parties of using religious and cultural issues for electoral purposes.
The opposition parties have not been quoted responding to the allegations in the statement.
