Days after a picture of Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu with a pro-Khalistan leader Gopal Singh Chawla surfaced in media, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said that the Congress party and its chief Rahul Gandhi should be ashamed of it.
While addressing a rally in poll-bound Rajasthan, Chouhan said, "Navjot Singh Sidhu feels pride in clicking pictures with Khalistanis. Congress should feel ashamed; Rahul and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi should feel ashamed. Is this your nationalism?"
Sidhu's photograph with the Khalistani leader was clicked during his visit to Pakistan for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor. However, the Congress leader downplayed his appearance in the picture saying, "There was so much love in Pakistan that every day probably 10,000 pictures were clicked with several people there (in Pakistan). Among them, who is Gopal Chawla or Cheema I don't know."
Stepping up his attack on the party, Chouhan said that Congress wants 90 per cent of the Muslim community's votes by creating a bad picture of the BJP in their minds. "In-closed room talks they say that if the 90 per cent Muslim voters don't vote for the Congress party then their party will be defeated in elections. They create fear in their minds by saying that if Congress doesn't form the government, then what will happen to the Muslims," he added.
Chouhan also alleged that Congress party is responsible for the partition of the country and first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is responsible for the Kashmir issue. Asserting that Congress party divided the people on the ground of caste and religion, he added, "Congress has always divided people on the lines of and its leaders know nothing about the Hindutva. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is the real "Hindutva" and BJP never discriminate people on lines of religion or caste."
He further promised that if BJP comes to power in Rajasthan, farmers' income would be doubled in five years and college going students would be provided with laptops and smartphones.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)