Narendra Modi, BJP conjuring 'sinister conspiracies' behind every act of opposition: Sonia Gandhi

India, the world's largest democracy, is facing a serious crisis with the government diverting attention away from real issues by raising bogus threats to 'national security', Congress President Sonia Gandhi has claimed.

In a column on Hindustan Times, the Congress leader said "the pillars of the democratic system of governance are under assault, with the freedom of expression being suspended through suppression and intimidation,' and dissent is being stifled under the garb of terrorism or anti-national activity.

She also alleged that institutions that are supposed to uphold citizens' rights are being co-opted or subverted.

The Congress chief, in a scathing critique of the Modi government wrote that at a time when the nation is facing genuine threats that need to be dealt with, BJP government is conjuring 'sinister conspiracies' behind every activity they perceive as being opposed to them. She cited examples of threats issued by BJP leaders during the Shaheen Bagh protests, and accused the party of creating the conditions which resulted in violence in northeast Delhi.

Read | Sonia Gandhi asks Congress leaders to defeat Modi government's 'sinister conspiracy'

She said that the Modi government began its campaign against its political opponents early in 2014, branding them as enemies of India, and unleashing the 'most draconian laws' in the country's penal code against every protester who disagreed with the BJP publicly, starting with sedition cases against student leaders at JNU, and expanding to activists, scholars and intellectuals.

The Modi government leaves no scope for exaggeration, Gandhi said, adding that the government has pressed every part of the State into service against its opponents, be it the Police, the ED, the CBI, the NIA and even the NCB. "These agencies now dance only to the tune of the Prime Minister and home minister’s office." she said.

While the BJP has often criticised Congress and Indira Gandhi's emergency for curbing individual freedoms, Sonia Gandhi took this opportunity to turn the tables and cite how the current regime has 'poisoned' politics and society. While the BJP is free to propagate its political ideology under the Constitution, "to paint genuine civil society leaders as evil conspirators and terrorists is to burn the bridges of communication with the common people, on whose behalf they (BJP) speak."

Emphasising the importance of the common man, she added that citizens do not cease to be so if the party they vote for loses elections. She accused the BJP, which claims to work for 130 crore Indians, of treating its opponents as second-class citizens without democratic rights. "They (citizens), and only they, are the nation", she said.