Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 8: Hitting back the BJP and the Prime Minster Narendra Modi over the party’s criticism of the Congress manifesto of being “bearing an imprint of Muslim League,” the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said the BJP’s “ideological ancestors” supported the British and the Muslim League against Indians in the freedom struggle.
Mr Modi had during his election rallies across the country attacked the Congress charging that its poll manifesto bore the imprint of the Muslim League and utterances of its leaders showed hostility towards national integrity and Sanatan Dharma.
In a post on X, Mr Kharge attacked Mr Modi and the union home minister Amit Shah for spreading “falsehood” saying, “Modi-Shah’s political and ideological ancestors supported the British and the Muslim League against the Indians in the freedom struggle.”
In a strong swipe at the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he said “everyone knows how (Shyama) Prasad Mukherjee “formed his governments in Bengal, Sindh, and NWFP (North West Frontier Province) in the 1940s in coalition with the Muslim League.” “Modi-Shah’s political and ideological ancestors supported the British and Muslim League against the Indians in the freedom struggle…” Mr Kharge posted on X.
“Modi-Shah’s ideological ancestors opposed Gandhi’s call for Quit India in 1942, which was chaired by Maulana Azad. There is a stink of RSS in Modiji‘s speeches… BJP’s electoral graph is plunging day by day. Therefore RSS has started remembering its best friend – the Muslim League!” Mr Kharge said. “Even today, they are “invoking the Muslim League against the Congress Nyay Patra” guided and shaped according to the aspirations, needs and demands of common Indians,” he added.
BJP chief JP Nadda had also accused the Congress of appeasement in its manifesto and asked the party to explain why it was against the majority. “Did Shyama Prasad Mukherjee not write to the then British governor about how the Quit India movement of 1942 can be ‘combated’ and how the Congress should be suppressed? And for this, he said that ‘Indians have to trust the British?” Mr Kharge asked. “Modi-Shah and their nominated president are today spreading falsehood about the Congress manifesto,” he alleged.
“There is only one truth — the Congress “Nyay Patra reflects the hopes and aspirations of 140 crore people of India. Their combined strength will put an end to Modi ji’s 10 years of injustice,” he claimed.
Earlier in the day, the Congress said Mr Modi was is scared over the prospect of the BJP struggling to cross 180 seats in the Lok Sabha polls and again resorted to the “same cliched Hindu-Muslim script.”
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the BJP was consistently losing ground, which was why “the PM’s love for Muslim League has resurfaced.” She said the Congress manifesto was being widely discussed to be a blueprint for the future of the country.
“After being in power for 10 years, when the country is at the brink of elections and the prime minister has to show his report card and ask for votes, he is nervous. He has once again resorted to the same cliched Hindu-Muslim script,” she said.
“The manifesto of Congress is the voice of India based on the five pillars of justice. It has an indelible imprint of the people of the country, it has the imprint of the expectations, aspirations and challenges of the crores of people who met us during the connect Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra,” she said.
“It has the imprint of 10 years of broken spirits and the emergence of a new hope, it has the imprint of youth, it has the imprint of farmers, it has the imprint of women, it has the imprint of workers, it has the imprint of those people who are on the margins of society and we will ensure their participation and greater representation,” Ms Shrinate said. “The Congress’ Nyay Patra has the solution to every problem that the Modi government has imposed on this country over the last 10 years,” she said.
She claimed that Mr Modi’s “love for Muslim League” was not new. “These are the same people who stood with the British even during the great struggle for Independence, and who left no opportunity to create communal rift along with the Muslim League. Remember, when in 1942, on the call of Mahatma and during the presidency of Maulana Azad, the country agitated in ‘Quit India Movement’ and had vowed to do or die, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was not only running his government in Bengal, and his like-minded people in Sindh and NWFP in collaboration with the Muslim League, but was also writing to the British giving advice on how to suppress this mass movement,” she said.
These people have deep affection, admiration and affiliation with the likes of the Muslim League and the British, she alleged. The reality is that ever since the Congress manifesto was released, there has been panic in the BJP ranks, Shrinate claimed. “Another big reality is that BJP’s tally is dwindling very fast, the latest surveys show they are struggling to cross the 180-seat mark,” she claimed.
