Congress, SP competing over who can target Hindus more: BJP

The BJP alleged on Tuesday that its rivals Samajwadi Party and the Congress appeared to be in a competition over who can spew more venom against Hindus and protect those who do so.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited Islamic cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's support to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and the SP nominating several Muslims allegedly accused of involvement in riots and making communal remarks to attack these parties.

Khan had recently made a speech targeting Hindus, Patra said and noted the Congress had allied in the past with parties that draw its support from Muslims in states like Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal and were accused of making communal remarks aimed at the majority community.

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The SP has also given tickets to people like Nahid Hasan, an MLA currently in jail, and Muharram Ali, accused of stoking riots, Patra said.

These developments have exposed both parties for their promotion of "radical syndicates", he said.

The BJP spokesperson also cited Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole's comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to say that it shows the breach in Modi's security in Punjab was not a coincidence but an experiment at the behest of top leaders in the opposition party.

Patole had said he can beat up and abuse Modi but later claimed that he was not referring to the prime minister.

To a question on the Aam Aadmi Party declaring its MP Bhagwant Mann as its chief ministerial candidate in Punjab, the BJP spokesperson took a jibe.

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal named Mann as the party's chief ministerial face like a governor and Mann also acted as if he was taking oath for the post, he said.

Patra also dismissed the Congress allegation of politics behind the Enforcement Directorate's raids on multiple locations in poll-bound Punjab, saying law will take its own course and this should not be seen through the prism of politics.

In some cases, he said, Punjab Police had filed FIRs and even Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu had demanded action against sand mafia, which has been targeted by the ED.

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