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| BJP renews attack on Sonia's foreign origin before polls | | | DEHRADUN, SEP 10 :
The BJP today sought to revive the issue of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin by linking it to her absence from an event marking the centenary of Vande Mataram, saying she had managed to associate herself with politics but not with the "country's honour and pride".
BJP chief Rajnath Singh, addressing a press conference after the conclusion of the party's national executive, did not refer directly to the foreign origin of Gandhi, but suggested it in other subtle ways by stating that "people of the country are wondering whether she has really become an Indian or not.
He said Gandhi's decision to stay away from an event commemorating Vande Mataram in Delhi on September 7 has "certainly given strength to separatist mindset".
Alleging that it was a "deliberate and not casual decision" of Gandhi to stay away from the programme, he said it was strange that the Congress president, who issues statements on small and sundry matters, did not feel it proper to say anything on this vital issue.
He also used the occasion to target the Congress, claiming that the ruling party was distancing itself from the legacy of the freedom struggle.
"Gandhi's action also reflects the Congress' soft approach towards fundamentalist forces," he said, adding the BJP would launch a nationwide campaign from September 25 to October 2 to "awaken the spirit of nationalism and to expose the pseudo-secularists".
In response to the criticism against Sonia's absence from a party organised group singing of Vande Mataram, Congress General Secretary Ahmad Patel had said "it is not a big issue if somebody does not attend the function due to being unwell or for some other reasons."
The party also plans to hold an event on November 7 at Nai Hati in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, the birthplace of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee who wrote the national song that became a war cry of the freedom movement.
Ahead of Assembly elections in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, the BJP president also announced a series of other programmes stretching until January 26 to reach out to its core Hindutva consituency on the plank of cultural nationalism. |
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