Will review naming of 650 Cong schemes after Gandhi family: BJP

Attacking "glorification" of only "one-family" by the Congress, BJP today said that if voted to power the party would review christening of more than "600 schemes" in the name of three generations of Gandhi dynasty.

"It has been the Congress that has glorified contributions of one family by giving it credit for every thing taking place in the country before and after the Independence," former BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here.

Giving an impression that no other leader other than one family did any good for the country, Congress launched 650 schemes in the name of three personalities - Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, he claimed.

Naidu promised that the BJP-led NDA, in the event of being elected to power in 2014 general elections would review christening of all these 650 schemes in the name of members of one family.

"BJP will discuss all issues related to 650 schemes, including rationalisation and christening of these schemes in the name of members of one family," he said.

Rubbishing Congress charge that Modi has muzzled democratic functioning of the BJP by outsmarting all other top leaders to get himself declared as the prime ministerial nominee, Naidu said the allegation was far from true as it was the party's decision to make the Gujarat chief minister its face for the general elections and the decision was taken in a democratic manner.

"The charge of pursuing personality-centric politics does not stick to us.....it has been the trademark of the Congress," he said, recalling the late Congress leader D K Baruah's famous one liner in 1970s : "Indira is India and India is Indira."
It was the same person (Indira Gandhi) who "subverted" parliamentary democracy by imposing Emergency in 1975 in the country, he said.

On Congress' jibe at Modi that he was not respecting seniors, the former BJP president alleged that Sonia Gandhi-led Congress did not allow the former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao's mortal remains to be brought to the AICC headquarters for paying tribute and her predecessor Sitaram Keshari was "bodily lifted" out of the party office to make way for Gandhi.

Naidu said Congress should not give sermons to the BJP about pursuing 'personality-centric politics' and being disrespectful of senior leaders.  Claiming that a wave is sweeping the country in favour of the NDA that may turn into a storm as the poll process reach advanced stage, Naidu expressed confidence that Modi-led government would come to power at the Centre with at least 300 seats from all regions including the southern states.

On the senior BJP leader M M Joshi's controversial remarks that the wave was in favour of the BJP and not Modi, the BJP leader said that his senior colleague had already clarified the matter.

"There is no difference between BJP and Modi and Joshi has clarified his remarks," Naidu said.

On Modi refusing to apologise for the 2002 riots, the former BJP president that said the Gujarat Chief Minister's successive victories in the assembly polls since 2002 vindicated Modi's stand on the issue.

When mediapersons persisted on his response on the issue Naidu said, "Please don't divert attention from 2014 general elections."

On Congress seeking Modi's apology for the riots, he asked it to introspect over the number of communal riots that had taken place during its rule and said that that party had been in the habit of playing communal cards for electoral benefits.

On the controversy arising out of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's former Media Advisor Sanjaya Baru's book titled 'The Accidental Prime Minister', Naidu said BJP's allegation that the Congress President had been acting as an extra constitutional authority to run the UPA government has been "proven correct".

"We have been saying for long that the PM presides, Madam decides," the former BJP president said.