Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday hit back at Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan's defence of Rahul Gandhi, questioning the Congress' credentials to project itself as the defender of democracy and secularism.
Responding to Satheesan's criticism of his remarks against the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Chandrasekhar said that Congress leaders were free to practise their political faith but could not expect others to ignore the party's record.
"Let us talk about the Congress' record of secularism and democracy," The Kerala BJP President said in a fresh social media post.
He cited the 1969 Ahmedabad riots, 1980 Moradabad riots, 1984 anti-Sikh riots and 1989 Bhagalpur riots during periods of Congress governments.
In Kerala, Chandrasekhar referred to the Marad communal violence in 2002 and the Marad massacre in 2003, saying that both occurred when the state was under Congress Chief Ministers.
Chandrasekhar also questioned the Congress' political associations in Kerala, referring to its alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and its association with Jamaat-e-Islami.
He recalled former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's criticism of Jamaat-e-Islami and asked how the Congress could claim to represent secular values while maintaining such political ties.
He also took issue with Satheesan's portrayal of Rahul Gandhi as a defender of secularism, saying Rahul Gandhi had given a secularism certificate to the IUML.
Turning to democracy, Chandrasekhar referred to the Emergency, amendments affecting the right to free speech, the use of central agencies against political opponents and Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, which was subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court.
"Rahul Gandhi is a defender of only one thing, his dynasty's/family's interest," the Kerala BJP President said.
He said the Congress could not escape scrutiny of its own history while presenting Rahul Gandhi as a champion of democracy and secularism.
Chandrasekhar also challenged Satheesan to compare the 12 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance with the 10 years of the Congress-led UPA government.
The BJP leader reiterated his demand that Rahul Gandhi apologise to PM Modi for calling him a 'deshdrohi' and to the Election Commission over his allegations concerning the electoral process.
"If you get Rahul Gandhi to apologise for calling our PM Narendra Modi a 'deshdrohi' and have him apologise to the Election Commission for lying, then I promise to stop referring to Rahul Gandhi as a fraud," Chandrasekhar said.
Satheesan had earlier accused Chandrasekhar of resorting to personal attacks against Rahul Gandhi and said neither the Congress nor the people of Kerala would accept such remarks.
He said the Congress and Rahul Gandhi were standing up for democracy and secularism and challenged Chandrasekhar and other BJP leaders to say, "with their hand on their chest", that they too stood for protecting secularism.
Satheesan accused Chandrasekhar of exposing his political bankruptcy through baseless allegations and cheap expressions, and said that when he pointed one finger at Rahul Gandhi, "the other fingers point towards his own chest".
The Chief Minister also raised questions over the credibility and neutrality of constitutional institutions, particularly the Election Commission, and alleged that the Constitution and democratic institutions were being subordinated to the interests of a particular group.
He said Rahul Gandhi and the Congress were raising their voices against such developments and that this was causing unease to the Sangh Parivar.
The exchange comes amid the continuing political confrontation between the Congress and BJP over the Election Commission, electoral rolls and Rahul Gandhi's allegations concerning the poll process.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz