BJP President J.P. Nadda trained his guns on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday for his attacks on the government over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Calling it "petty politics" and invoking Jawaharlal Nehru, Nadda came down heavily on the Congress.
"For us, the party comes after the nation. But for them (Congress-led opposition), the party comes before the nation," alleged the BJP President. He alleged they knew only "politics, politics and only politics."
Nadda was speaking at a BJP virtual rally for Karnataka.
Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi's "intolerance" comment, Nadda asked Rahul whether he has forgotten the Emergency era. "If there has been any tolerant nation, it's India. Don't worry about nation's changing DNA. Please worry about Congress' changing DNA," said Nadda. Rahul had claimed recently that "DNA of tolerance has gone In India and the US".
"1.25 lakh people were jailed during the Emergency. Except the Congress party people and Communists, people from all political parties were jailed. The media representatives, too, were behind bars," Nadda asserted.
Taking credit for abrogating Article 370, Nadda pinned the blame for the existence of the article in the first place on the Congress. "I feel proud that I could press the button to abrogate that article that helped terror survive," he said.
In a serious allegation, Nadda claimed that all the central funds used to be restricted to "Srinagar's locker" previously which has been changed after last August. He questioned Congress and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's view on Dalits as well.
He also boasted about Triple Talaq Act, Citizenship Amendment Act, UAPA, and the government pulling out of RCEP.
But it was his comparison between Lal Bahadur Shastri and Narendra Modi that drew eyeballs. He remarked, "if any Indian leader has been 'religiously obeyed' in the nation after Lal Bahadur Shastri, that is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was referring to the nation's response to the PM's call for Janta Curfew."
Nadda also portrayed Modi as a COVID hero. "When major powers were feeling helpless due to COVID-19, PM Modi led the nation from the front and took a timely and bold decision of imposing the lockdown. We have been successful in protecting the country from COVID-19, we should remember that," said the BJP chief. He also referred to WHO's praise, calling the decision to shut India a "timely and bold decision".
Calling the migrant crisis an "uncalculated situation", Nadda said the Centre and its ministers were prompt to ensure that the trouble for the migrant labourers on the roads were eased. "We know their trouble was unimaginable. But we played a positive role to help them," he added. Nadda claimed crores of food packets were distributed, Shramik trains were run and buses organized to ease their pain.
( With inputs from IANS )