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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J.P. Nadda on Wednesday hit out at the Congress, describing it as party that had gone “bankrupt on ideas” and “joined hands with anti-national forces”.
He was addressing a party gathering in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur in the run-up to the upcoming parliamentary election here, slated for June 1.
Mr. Nadda alleged that the Congress party had been resorting to politics of “appeasement” and is “anti-Sanatan [dharma]”. He said that during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, the Congress party had even questioned the existence of Lord Ram by terming Lord Ram a “fictional character”. The party, he said, had “joined hands with anti-national forces”.
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Mr. Nadda said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had made inappropriate remarks against ‘Sanatan Dharma’ but senior Congress leaders had remained silent, even though the DMK and the Congress are allies under Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
He also criticised the remarks made by Sam Pitroda, chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, terming it “racist”, and an attempt to divide the country. “Mr. Sam Pitroda wants to rob the wealth collected by the lifelong earnings of the countrymen. Their leaders want to divide the country in the name of language, region, colour etc. Their political agenda is nothing but dividing the country and society,” he said.
Mr. Nadda asserted that the BJP will win all the four parliamentary seats in Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP swept all four parliamentary seats — Shimla, Kangra, Hamirpur, and Mandi — in Himachal Pradesh in 2019. However, the BJP suffered a setback in 2021, when the party’s candidate lost the byelection to the Mandi parliamentary constituency to the Congress’ Pratibha Singh, the Himachal Congress chief and wife of former Chief Minister, the late Virbhadra Singh.
