BJP asks Cong to apologise for Priyanka's remark

Hitting out at Priyanka Gandhi for her “neech rajniti” remarks against Narendra Modi, the BJP on Tuesday said the Congress party should immediately apologise to the nation.

Denying the counter charge of the Congress that it was a ploy by the BJP to use the caste card, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, “This is the word which she had used and particularly in the social context of India, the use of this word has to be avoided.

“When this word is used in relation to either the persona or the views of a person belonging to a backward community, you are giving rise to apprehensions and, therefore, if you claim to be a vocational participant in politics, then be sure of the vocabulary you use.” According to Jaitley, those who are inexperienced in politics should and must think four times before using such words.

On Amit Shah’s remarks that Azamgarh is a base for terrorists, Jaitley said BJP had already given a clarification and Shah has said nothing objectionable.

“In the country, there have been many terrorist incidents with which people from a particular place were actively associated. This has been said not just by Amit Shah but the country’s security agencies too have been giving such warnings. It did not mean that all the people staying there (Azamgarh) were the same (terrorist modules) but there is one place from where such modules are emerging,” Jaitley said. Jaitley alleged that at certain places, especially in UP and West Bengal, there have been incidents of silent booth-capturing during polling and it was not only he who was saying this but the Election Commission also too received such complaints.

He alleged that central security forces were being kept away on non-essential duty and constables and homegaurds were being deployed at polling booths where an atmosphere of fear is created and opposition parties’ polling agents are forcibly driven out.

Deployment of security forces at booths should be made by central observer instead of district administration of the state, Jaitley said.