Congress trying to polarise voters in 2019 run-up: BJP

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a direct attack on Rahul Gandhi on Friday and said the Congress chief should clarify whether he was a “Muslim-dhari or janeu-dhari”. She accused the opposition party of seeking to polarise the electorate along communal lines in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing a press conference, Sitharaman referred to a report in Urdu daily ‘Inquilab’ which quoted Rahul as telling a group of Muslims that “Congress is a Muslim party”. “Rahul Gandhi became a janeu-dhari during the Karnataka polls and now he has become a Muslim-dhari,” she said.

“Rahul Gandhi should tell the country what transpired in his meeting with Muslim intellectuals. Congress is going to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on communal and religious lines and if any communal incident happens before 2019, Congress will be solely responsible,” Sitharaman said. “What Congress leaders are talking about closely resembles what happened in 1947. Congress is playing a dangerous game playing the card of religion,” she added. “Only yesterday the Congress president met Muslim intellectuals... and said Muslims are the next Dalits. By calling Muslims the next Dalits, what is he conveying?” she asked.

Cong slams Sitharaman

Congress slammed Sitharaman’s allegations as part of BJP’s design to effect religious polarisation to divert attention from issues like the Rafale scam and Kashmir. Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev said Sitharaman’s utterances were aimed at fomenting tension between religious communities.