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  India   Politics  03 Apr 2019  BJP lashes out: ‘It’s a charter to weaken India’

BJP lashes out: ‘It’s a charter to weaken India’

THE ASIAN AGE.
Published : Apr 3, 2019, 1:44 am IST
Updated : Apr 3, 2019, 1:44 am IST

Jaitley said the Congress’ much-hyped Nyay scheme was a “bluff” as the party itself had no clarity on how it would be implemented.

Arun Jaitley (Photo: ANI)
 Arun Jaitley (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Tearing into the Congress election manifesto for 2019, the BJP on Tuesday said some of the promises made in it were “positively dangerous” and are “ideas for the Balkanisation” of the country and asserted that with such ideas, the Opposition party “does not deserve even a single vote”. The BJP claimed the manifesto was drafted  by Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s friends in the “tukde tukde” gang.

To Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s remark that “South India feels hostility from Narendra Modi”, the BJP said the region might neglect Mr Gandhi himself. Lashing at the Congress for not even mentioning how the “ethnic cleansing” of Kashmiri pandits was the example of “failed secularism” in free India in the entire chapter on the state in its manifesto, finance minister Arun Jaitley said the Congress should make its ally National Conference’s demand for a pre-1953 status in the state as its main poll plank, whose “dangerous consequences are frightening”. He said the country would never fogive the Nehru-Gandhi family for its “historical mistake” over Kashmir.

Terming the Congress manifesto a “Charter to Weaken India”, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley focused his party’s attack mainly on its promises on reviewing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and omitting Indian Penal Code’s Section 124A, which defines “sedition”, and the Nyay scheme, which he called a “bluff”, and said it’s like the idea that comes when the person knows that he will never get a chance to implement it. On the Congress’ poll promise of a loan waiver, healthcare and education, Mr Jaitley said it was a “promise made out of ignorance” and the Congress has a legacy of duping the poor with slogans.

Reminding the Congress that “ingratitude is the biggest sin that a political party can commit”, Mr Jaitley hit out at the Congress for its promise to review AFSPA and omit Section 124A. The BJP leader said though there was a drafting committee that came out with the Congress poll document, it “appears that some of the important points have been drafted by the Congress president’s friends in the tukde tukde gang when the document deals with Jammu and Kashmir and national security.

“The manifetso contains a solemn statement of the Congress that when its president makes a promise he never breaks it, but when out of ignorance he makes unimplementable and dangerous promises, I am sure the country will not be in a mood to oblige him for implementing the kind of promises mentioned in the manifesto — as some of the ideas are positively dangerous... they are the ideas for the Balkanisation of India,” said Mr Jaitley.

Mr Jaitley said the Congress was trying to redefine and dilute the idea of national security, and said that while transparency is a “very good word”, there are notable exceptions to that and the “country comes first”.

Reminding the Congress that its own state governments had opposed it when the then UPA home minister had tried to dilute AFSPA, Mr Jaitley asked “those people who lay down their lives for the country... you want them to be prosecuted at the behest of terrorists or their friends or their relatives”. He said the UPA put in place a robust mechanism to deal with complaints against officers in AFSPA areas, and every complaint was dealt out firmly.

The senior BJP leader said the Congress wants “bail is the rule and jail is the exception”, which he said would mean stone-pelters will be on the streets and terrorists will be saved. He said the Congress wants a dialogue with separatists, and added that India will not agree to the “rule of insurgents and terrorists”.

Mr Jaitley said the Congress’ much-hyped Nyay scheme was a “bluff” as the party itself had no clarity on how it would be implemented. “Truth leaks itself out,” said the senior leader, pointing out that the Congress had been changing its stand on how exactly the scheme would be implemented.

Taking a dig at the Congress promise on jobs, Mr Jaitley said: “Rahul Gandhi said we will fill 28 lakh jobs. The next sentence of the Congress manifesto says 20 lakh jobs are in state governments. He must at least read what he is saying.”

Tags: arun jaitley, afspa, congress election manifesto