Attacking BJP and its PM candidate Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today accused them of indulging in divisive politics by “sowing seeds of poison” (zeher ki kheti) and instigating violence.
“This is an area which was the ‘karmabhoomi’ of Sufi saints and a symbol of composite culture of the country. I firmly believe that you will not allow those who sow the seeds of poison, who don’t believe in secular credentials and who play the politics of instigating violence to succeed,” the UPA Chairperson said in her address at a public rally here in northern Karnataka.
BJP and other opposition parties, she alleged, have only one motive and that is to hanker after the chair. “It is necessary for the people to be cautious about the opposition parties’ plans to gain power by any means.”
BJP reacted sharply to Gandhi’s remarks, with party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy saying that Congress will meet the same fate in 2014 as the drubbing it got in 2007 in Gujarat after her ‘maut ka saudagar’ (merchant of death) remarks against Narendra Modi.
In an apparent reference to Modi, Gandhi said “those who are busy beating their own drums continuously, I want to ask you whether they will do good to the nation. No, not at all.
Their only aim is to capture power and to achieve it they will resort to all sorts of conspiracies. You have to wary of these people and understand their intentions.”
Gandhi claimed Congress did not crave for power, but was concerned about the country and its people.
“We are also concerned about the removal of poverty and bringing self-respect to the poor. We are concerned about fostering brotherhood and maintaining peace in society. Therefore, we are in a position to speed up development.”
She said Congress was engaged in fighting corruption and therefore the party brought into force the Right to Information Act and Lok Pal Act.
But, she claimed, opposition parties including BJP gave only empty promises and levelled false allegations.
Turning to Karnataka, she said because of the ‘corrupt’ previous BJP rule in the state, central schemes like MGNREGA did not reach the people. However, the present Congress government has been successful in implementing these schemes, she said.