BJP accuses Congress of Muslim appeasement

Sonia Gandhi and Ashok Chavan

New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday cited reported comments of Maharashtra minister Ashok Chavan to accuse the Congress of "Muslim appeasement" and "insulting" Hindus, and said that the opposition party should be called "Muslim League Congress".

At a briefing, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra referred to comments of several opposition leaders, including those from the NCP and the AIMIM, to allege that they were "abusing" Hindus in the name of anti-CAA protests and sought apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and NCP's Sharad Pawar. Referring to Chavan's reported remarks that the Congress joined hands with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra as Muslims wanted the party to stop the BJP from coming to power, Patra said, "The Congress leader says they joined the government for Muslims. What is the sin of Hindus, Sikhs and others. The Congress has insulted Hindus and this comment has exposed it."

Hitting back, Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said an empty mind is a devil's workshop and added that BJP spokespersons are calling names because of the impact the "rising unemployment" is having on them. He referred to the BJP as "Nathuram Godse party", "bhrasht jumla party" and "bikau janata party". In his press conference, Patra also referred to a statement from an NCP leader to attack the opposition. Asked about Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge's reported jibe at the RSS for its "non-participation" in the freedom movement, the BJP leader shot back, asking if parents of Sonia Gandhi, who is of Italian origin, had fought in India's independence struggle. The Indian National Congress, he said referring to the opposition party's full name, should be called "Muslim League Congress".

The Congress does "Muslim appeasement" for the community's votes but has never done any good for it, he claimed. Highlighting a report in an Urdu daily, Patra said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had once described his party as a "party of Muslims" and its leaders coined terms like saffron terror. Since 1946, Patra claimed, the Congress has done "Muslim vote bank politics". He also highlighted comments of AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, whose brother Asaduddin Owaisi heads the party, that Muslims ruled over the country for eight centuries to refer to him as Jinnah, Pakistan's founder. Patra claimed that a video of Shaheen Bagh protests purportedly showed children talking about "murdering" the prime minister and the home minister and asked who has spread such "poison". "It is a tragedy that poison against Hindus is being sowed in the country," he said.

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