BJP is dousing fires started by Congress, says Rajnath Singh

Bengaluru: Lashing out at new Congress president Rahul Gandhi for accusing the BJP of spreading hatred and violence, Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday questioned angrily if the fire of communalism, terrorism and Naxalism in India had erupted due to the BJP’s policies.

Speaking at the party’s Parivartana Rally here, Mr Singh launched a no-holds-barred attack on

Mr Gandhi  and said, “I want to congratulate him (Mr Gandhi on his elevation as Congress president). But I also want to remind him that if someone formed governments by setting emotions on fire, it is the Congress. The BJP is trying to douse it.”

“It is not the BJP’s policy that led to the birth of terrorism or Naxalism. The BJP’s policy did not lead to the 1984 anti-Sikh violence or Punjab terror. Our policy did not start the fire in Kashmir,” he said, adding that it was the BJP which was fire-fighting and not the Congress.

Mr Singh also said that it was not BJP’s policy that has given rise to dynasty politics in the country.

In his maiden speech after taking over as the Congress president on Saturday, Mr Gandhi had said, “The BJP is spreading hatred and communalism, they break, while we unite. They ignite fire, we douse it.”

To buttress his claims, Mr Singh lauded the initiatives taken under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and contended that India is no longer considered weak and is now a superpower that nobody can question. “If not for the BJP and Prime Minister Modi, the Doklam issue would not have been resolved. China too has understood that good diplomatic ties have to be maintained. On the Indo-Pakistan border, our forces are strongly retaliating attacks, as was seen during the surgical strike last year. We will not fire first, but if someone fires at us, we will not sit back,” Mr Singh asserted.

Highlighting the economic reforms undertaken by the Modi government, Mr Singh said that steps such as demonetisation have led to a crackdown on benami properties, shell companies and black money.

“Further, steps like financial inclusion and strengthening of agriculture have been praised by international agencies such as Moody’s and others too,” he said.

He said that the “whole world realises that the BJP alone knows how to run the nation. The Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh election results (on Monday) will prove it again. Already exit polls have predicted that we are going to form the government in these two states,” he said.

Targeting the Siddaramaiah-led government in Karnataka, Mr Singh said the Congress regime believed in “spreading enmity” between different communities.

Referring to the killing of RSS activist Rudresh here early this year and VHP leader D.S. Kuttappa in Kodagu district in November, 2015, and 19-year-old Paresh Mesta recently, he said they were “murdered in cold blood.” Even Gauri Lankesh was killed.

“If we come to power in Karnataka, we will get these cases thoroughly investigated,” the Union home minister said.

Journalist Lankesh was shot dead by unidentified assailants here in September, leading to a national outrage. The killing has remained a mystery.

Mesta, who was from the fishermen community, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Uttara Kannada district, leading to violence last week.

The state government has ordered a CBI probe into Mesta’s death, for which the BJP has blamed the “jihadi elements”.

Accusing the Congress of dividing the society, Mr Singh said when there was a controversy surrounding the 18th-century ruler of Mysuru, Tipu Sultan, the state government should have refrained from celebrating his birth anniversary.

“There were many other historical characters for celebrating their birthdays such as Kittur Rani Chennamma, the founder of Bengaluru, Kempe Gowda, and (renowned engineer) Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The Karnataka government wants to divide Indian society,” he added.