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Accusing the BJP-led Central government of trying to create a divide among Hindus and Muslims ahead of 2019 elections to polarise the society, the Congress on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become blind like Mahabharata character “Dhritarashtra” in his pursuit of power.

The party also compared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with another Mahabharata character, Duryodhan, and said it is disrobing social harmony and brotherhood.

“Modi government is trying to create a divide among Hindus and Muslims in order to polarise the society ahead of elections, which reflects the unhealthy mindset of its ministers and the Prime Minister,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

“Sensing defeat in 2019 general elections, Prime Minister Modi has become blind like Dhritarashtra due to his lust for power. By spreading hatred and pursuing divisive politics, he is aiming to win the election,” he added.

He said: “BJP’s sole aim is to grab power. Power-hungry BJP is playing the role of Duryodhan.

“But Modiji should understand that Godse’s ideology can never defeat Gandhi’s ideology. He asks about Congress’ religion. Our religion is Indianess. Congress has represented every citizen, every religion, caste, language, customs and region,” said Surjewala.

The Congress leader said the BJP is the new version of East India Company. “Divide and rule was then their principle, divide the society is now BJP’s principle.”

Referring to the collapse of part of a canopy at PM’s rally in West Bengal’s Midnapore town on Monday, in which over 25 persons were injured, Surjewala said: “Although a canopy collapsed in Prime Minister’s rally and people were injured, a power-hungry Modiji continued his speech.”

“Gujarat, Assam and Maharashtra are badly affected by floods, but he is busy with rallies,” he added.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit back at the BJP over alleged “Congress is for Muslims” remarks, spelling out in a tweet the philosophy of the party that “stands with the last person in the line” whose religion or caste doesn’t matter.

In a widely shared and liked tweet, Gandhi said: “I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalized and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me.

“I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear. I love all living beings. I am the Congress.”

The tweet, not directed at any individual or a party, apparently came in response to BJP’s unabated criticism over his reported remark that the Congress was a party of Muslims.

The BJP has been latching on to these remarks Gandhi reportedly made during a meeting with Muslim intellectuals. The ruling party said Gandhi and his party were indulging in communal politics ahead of the 2019 elections.

The alleged remarks were reported by an Urdu daily even as one some participants in the meeting denied Gandhi made such controversial reference.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi both targeted the Congress President over the issue.

“I read in the newspapers that (the) naamdaar (referring to Gandhi) said the Congress is a party of the Muslims. I am not surprised… When the previous Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) was in charge, he said openly that the first use of natural resources should be with Muslims,” Modi said at a public meeting in Azamgarh of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

After a surprise inspection of one of Delhi’s biggest Regional Transport Offices, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday warned of strict action against officers who indulge in corruption with help from touts.

As Kejriwal and Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot landed at the RTO office at Burari, scores of agitated drivers of autorickshaws and commercial vehicles virtually mobbed them, complaining that nothing happens without the touts’ involvement.

“All the auto drivers and commercial vehicle drivers have complained that it is only when they come through a tout that their work is done quickly,” Kejriwal later told the media.

“Otherwise, the work remains pending for months. We will take strict action against all the officers found indulging in corrupt practices,” he said.

He announced that from August 1, all the work done at Burari RTO would be decentralized and that the Delhi government would try to open 5,000 vehicle fitness centres across Delhi.

“Earlier, people had to stand in long queues to get a fitness certificate. This also led to rampant corruption. Now, we will decentralize and open 5,000 more centres in Delhi,” he said.

Kejriwal instructed officers to make a list of all the complaints and the action taken for the last 10 days and submit a report to him by 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Samajwadi Party today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “diverting” people’s attention from “rising” cases of rape and crime against women across the country. “Not even Sambhal, cases of crime against women and rape are rising steadily across India. The Prime Minister is trying to divert the attention of the people,” SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters here.

He was responding to a question on the alleged gangrape of a woman in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. The SP leader, however, did not elaborate on how the PM was trying to divert the attention of the people. The party had convened a press conference to be addressed by SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav at his residence.

Mulayam, however, did not attend the conference and instead his cousin Ram Gopal addressed the media on issues related to the Ram Manohar Lohia trust. The meeting of its trustees was held here today. In his various public rallies in the recent past, Prime Minister Modi has targeted the opposition for ignoring development and turing a blind eye to the plight of the farmers.

The opposition, including the Congress BSP and SP, has in turn hit back accusing the BJP of polarising the society in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Referring to the Ram Manohar Lohia Trust, Ram Gopal Yadav said it would build a school and a community centre at its headquarters in Hydreabad. It would also publish several works of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia which have so far not be brought in the public domain.

Though Mulayam’s son and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and SP patriarch’s younger brother Shipval Singh are trustees, they did not attend the meeting. Shivpal Yadav’s relations with Akhilesh and Ram Gopal had turned sour during the recent feud in the Yadav clan.

Launching a blistering attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal govenrment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused it of forming a nexus with the “all pervading syndicates”, murdering Dalit political activists and having no faith in democracy, the Indian constitution or the electoral process.

In one of his strongest tirades against the Trinamool Congress government, Modi told a rally here that none of the forces which perpetrated atrocities in Bengal in the past were spared, and prophesied that the “state will be freed of all crimes and corruptions within months and it is just a matter of an opportunity”.

Asking didi (elder sister, as Banerjee is called) to take note of “the strength and discipline” of the people at the rally, Modi urged the people and the workers of BJP to “think together and bravely” to shake the “foundation of the syndicate” as was done in Tripura – where the BJP won the assembly polls earlier this year by ending 25 years of Left Front rule.

“The way Tripura’s syndicate was broken, it can be repeated in West Bengal. The resolution from this historic land has never been in vain.

“Those who do not support democracy, do not believe in the process of election, follow the Constitution and the Government that has to be reprimanded by High Court and Supreme Court, will not be spared,” he said to tumultuous applause and high-decibel chants of “Modi, Modi”.

Refering to the 34 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal that ended in 2011 when the Trinamool was voted to power, he said while it took time to vote out the communists, it won’t take long this time around.

“People of Bengal saved themselves from the torture of the Left rule with the help of democracy. It took time then. Now Bengal will once again free itself of the wrongdoings and crimes within months. Bengal is waiting for its chance. People of Bengal are waiting for their opportunity.”

“The people of Bengal have seen the real faces of those who talked about ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’ (Mother, motherland and people – Banerjee’s pet slogan). People know what they have done for the last eight years and also know about their syndicate.

“These are the syndicate for snatching away the profit of the farmers, for conspiring to murder the political oppositions, for torturing the poor and for maintaining their own vote banks to stay on in the power,” Modi said while addressing the farmer’s rally at the Midnapore college grounds.

Referring to the violence and killing centring the recent state rural body elections, Modi congratulated the BJP activists for “standing firm” against the ruling party’s attack in spite of several of them being killed and said the victory of the saffron outfit in a number of seats was an indication of Bengal’s “bright future”.

“I bow down my head to salute the people of Bengal who supported the BJP in the last state Panchayat election in spite of widespread violence and attacks on them. Our party activists were murdered one after the other. Many Dalit sons were snatched away from their parents,” Modi said.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek his support for the passage of the Womens Reservation Bill in Parliament’s monsoon session, claiming that the BJP appears to have had second thoughts on the proposed law even though it was a key promise in its 2014 manifesto.

The Congress leader said that the bill — passed by the Rajya Sabha in March 2010 — has been stalled on one pretext or the other in the Lok Sabha for over eight years now.

Gandhi said that the bill holds the potential to transform the country’s governance and any further delay will make it impossible to implement it before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“I write to request (for) your support to ensure the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the coming monsoon session,” he said.

The monsoon session is slated to begin on July 18 and will continue till August 10.

“Given the fact that the BJP and its allies have a majority in the Lok Sabha, all this landmark (proposed) legislation requires to become a reality is your support. I am sure it will not be withheld,” Gandhi said.

Stepping up its attack on the Congress, the BJP on Monday dubbed it the “worst communal party” and sought its clarification over the reported remarks of Rahul Gandhi that his party is for the Muslims.

“The Congress is the worst communal party. It has always done communal politics. What Rahul Gandhi has said is against the spirit of the Constitution and against every principle of democracy,” Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

Javadekar’s attack comes in the wake of a report in an Urdu daily according to which Gandhi told a meeting of Muslim intellectuals earlier this week that the “Congress is a party for the Muslims”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked Gandhi, saying whether the Congress was interested only in the welfare of Muslim men and not women.

“The Congress has damaged the country to a great extent. We condemn their policies. The communal policies do not serve the country. Rahul Gandhi should speak on this,” he said.

He said that though the Congress has denied that the party President made such remarks, the party’s minority cell chief clarified that Rahul Gandhi has spoken the truth.

“The Congress is exposed. Its appeasement policies have damaged the country. You are distributing natural resources on the basis of religion. That was exactly the basis of whole history of partition. The Congress is a communal party. Their thinking is destructive. Shah Bano case is the biggest example of Congress being a communal party,” Javadekar said.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday targeted the Congress over Karnataka Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy breaking down at a public event, saying the party believed that “only members of one family can rule India” and that others should be pushed to weeping publicly.

Jaitley’s remark came in a facebook post: “Is the Karnataka a preview of what the Congress and the Federal Front promise for the future?” Jaitley said the country is keenly watching Karnataka where the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular joined hands post-elections to form a government in May.

“It is a repeat of what the Congress did to Chaudhary Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar, H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral. It is the obvious consequence of a non-ideological opportunistic alliance (working) with no positive agenda. The basis of the negative agenda is ‘keep Modi out’,” Jaitley said.

He said people had, in the last few days, seen Kumaraswamy pouring out his emotions with tears, declining to accept bouquets and garlands.

Kumaraswamy broke down at a public event on Saturday stating that he was “not happy” holding the top post and that he was swallowing the pain like ‘Vishakantha’ (Lord Shiva), who drank poison.

Jailtley said non-ideological opportunistic coalitions always get trapped within their own contradictions and their only objective remains survival and not service of the nation.

“Their longevity is suspect. If a Prime Minister of such a coalition has to weep before cameras with a wish to exit from office, it will be a scenario worse than the policy paralysis of UPA II. The Congress firmly believes that only members of one family can rule India. If anybody else gets a chance, he should be pushed to the desperation of throwing his hands up and weeping publicly,” he said.

Jaitley said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly demonstrated the advantages of a decisive leadership.

“India’s Prime Minister and his government have to overcome the challenges that India faces today. He cannot be seen like the Chief Minister of Karnataka as a tragedy king. If such a coalition is a cup of poison, why even dream of inflicting it on the nation?” he said.

Jaitley cited parts of Kumarswamy’s speech and said it reminded him of tragedy-era Hindi films.

He said India needs a sustained high-trajectory growth, cohesive government and a decisive political leadership to face global challenges, including terrorism.

The minister said the country needs a government which is able to resist unfair pressures of allies and regions.

“If fighting terror has to be compromised because of vote-bank pressures of allies, then such a government would be a liability. Can a leadership unsure of itself meet the challenge of eliminating poverty and transforming the world’s fastest growing economy into a developed nation?” he asked.

(IANS)