BJP and NPP 'dog and tail', says Tharoor; Ram Madhav hits back
ET Bureau & Agencies|
Feb 24, 2018, 07.39 PM IST
SHILLONG: Bharatiya Janata Party has taken serious objection to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor using the analogy of a "dog and its wagging tail" to describe its political equation with the National People's Party in Meghalaya.
Tharoor during a campaign tour of poll-bound Meghalaya had made the comparison to drive his point that the pre-poll rivalry between the BJP and NPP was just an eyewash and that the two were acting in tandem.
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav on Saturday wrote on Twitter: "This is the indecent remark reportedly made by Shashi Tharoor, who pretends to occupy moral high ground, in Meghalaya about NPP and BJP: It (NPP) was attached to BJP as a tail 'that wags whenever the dog barks'. It is an insult to people of Meghalaya.
Conrad Sangma's NPP is a part of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and a partner in the BJP government in neighbouring Manipur, but has no pre-poll alliance with the saffron party in Meghalaya. In Nagaland, the other state going to polls along with Meghalaya on January 27, NPP has tied up with the Naga People's Front (NPF), which is contesting against the BJP.
Congress leaders in their campaigns have been projecting that the tribal NPP is only keeping a strategic distance from the BJP in a Christian-majority state and that both will come together after the polls. NPP's Sangma has called it a diversionary tactic by the ruling Congress.
Tharoor at a press conference on Friday in Shillong said the NPP was only posing as independent and that it was attached to the dog as a tail"that wags whenever the dog barks.
The BJP has been actively trying to woo Christian voters in Meghalaya, sending union minister KJ Alphons to list out the good things it has done to members of that community, while the Congress has been trying to show it was all a sham.
"They (BJP) come to Meghalaya and they talked about being kind to Christians in BJP-ruled states. I am sorry to say -- we have seen horrendous incidents involving Christians," Tharoor said.
"In Meghalaya, they are opening their arms to all, and in Delhi they are denying visa to a pastor who wishes to come to India to celebrate 150 years of Christianity in the Garo Hills. They come here and say you can eat whatever you like. In the rest of India, they beat and even kill people on suspicion of eating beef," he added.
Tharoor during a campaign tour of poll-bound Meghalaya had made the comparison to drive his point that the pre-poll rivalry between the BJP and NPP was just an eyewash and that the two were acting in tandem.
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav on Saturday wrote on Twitter: "This is the indecent remark reportedly made by Shashi Tharoor, who pretends to occupy moral high ground, in Meghalaya about NPP and BJP: It (NPP) was attached to BJP as a tail 'that wags whenever the dog barks'. It is an insult to people of Meghalaya.
Conrad Sangma's NPP is a part of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and a partner in the BJP government in neighbouring Manipur, but has no pre-poll alliance with the saffron party in Meghalaya. In Nagaland, the other state going to polls along with Meghalaya on January 27, NPP has tied up with the Naga People's Front (NPF), which is contesting against the BJP.
Congress leaders in their campaigns have been projecting that the tribal NPP is only keeping a strategic distance from the BJP in a Christian-majority state and that both will come together after the polls. NPP's Sangma has called it a diversionary tactic by the ruling Congress.
Tharoor at a press conference on Friday in Shillong said the NPP was only posing as independent and that it was attached to the dog as a tail"that wags whenever the dog barks.
The BJP has been actively trying to woo Christian voters in Meghalaya, sending union minister KJ Alphons to list out the good things it has done to members of that community, while the Congress has been trying to show it was all a sham.
"They (BJP) come to Meghalaya and they talked about being kind to Christians in BJP-ruled states. I am sorry to say -- we have seen horrendous incidents involving Christians," Tharoor said.
"In Meghalaya, they are opening their arms to all, and in Delhi they are denying visa to a pastor who wishes to come to India to celebrate 150 years of Christianity in the Garo Hills. They come here and say you can eat whatever you like. In the rest of India, they beat and even kill people on suspicion of eating beef," he added.
