Ideological victory for BJP, says Arun Jaitley

Continuing to raise the pitch on nationalism, Union minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday vowed to take forward the “ideological battle” on nationalism.

Mr Jaitley said the BJP has won the first round as people who raised anti-India slogans till now have been forced to say “Jai Hind, if not Bharat Mata ki jai”.

Inaugurating the Delhi BJP executive committee meeting, Mr Jaitley said that it is very regrettable that a controversy arises even on saying Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Veer Savarkar’s love for the nation is questioned.

“This is a huge challenge for us. This is a big ideological challenge. We should consider this an ideological battle and I feel we have won its first round. Now people who were raising slogans against the country have started saying they will chant ‘Jai Hind’, if not Bharat Mata ki jai. At least they have been said something to convey their allegiance to the country. This was your ideological victory that you forced them to say this,” he said.

Referring to the RSS-affiliated ABVP’s victory in the JNU Students’ Union central council after 14 years, he said even in student politics, the youth of Delhi have supported a nationalist organisation. “The vicious atmosphere being witnessed in JNU and the country is, to a great extent, the result of the frustration of the Left and the Congress,” he said.

The Union minister told the executive committee members that the BJP’s ideology is inspired by nationalism, and it is a strange situation where talking about breaking the country is called freedom of expression. “The law or Constitution does not permit this anywhere. And it is happening in the national capital,” he said.

Attacking the main Opposition Congress, Mr Jaitley said it was shrinking throughout India and that voters will turn Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of “Congress-free India” into a reality.

“Mainstream political parties practise mainstream politics. But the Congress practises a politics of fringe. Only fringe political parties work to stall the progress of country,” he said talking about the disruption in Parliament.

Attacking the Aam Aadmi Party government in the national capital, he said that it is a government of confrontations rather than constructive work.