The Congress on Friday said BJP veteran L K Advani has made a "stinging indictment" of the politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and it is time for the duo to introspect.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Advani has "exposed" both Modi and Shah, alleging that they "hurl abuses and vitriol at their political opponents that reflect their political bankruptcy".
Accusing Modi and Shah of being "habitual offenders" of labelling every opponent as "anti national" and "Pak agents", the Congress leader asked who the "real anti-national" was, as he highlighted some past speeches of Modi making critical remarks on the armed forces.
"BJP patriarch and Modiji's political guru, Shri L K Advani in a stinging indictment to demeaning politics of Modi-Shah duo, founded on hurling abuses on political opponents, has exposed Modi-Shah's duplicity and hypocrisy," he told reporters.
"Time for Modi-Shah duo to introspect on Shri Advani's remarks and tell the nation who is really 'anti-national' or not," he also said.
Advani, had in a blog on Thursday, said his party has never regarded those who disagreed with it politically as "anti-nationals" or "enemies" but only as adversaries, remarks which come at a time when top BJP leaders have used anti-national barbs against political rivals on the issue of national security.
Surjewala said Advani has said that "our conception of Indian nationalism, we have never regarded those who disagree with us politically as 'anti-national'."
Advani, who has been replaced by party president Amit Shah in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, wrote a blog titled 'Nation First, Party Next, Self Last' ahead of the party's foundation day on April 6, in which he said, "The essence of the Indian democracy is respect for diversity and freedom of expression."
In the blog, written almost five years after he posted the last piece on its web page, the 91-year-old leader said, "Right from its inception, the BJP has never regarded those who disagree with us politically as our 'enemies', but only as our adversaries."
Surjewala said, "Modi-Shah duos are habitual offenders of labelling, cataloguing, categorizing every opponent as an 'Anti National' and 'Pak Agents', besides hurling abuse and vitriol every second. This reflects the political bankruptcy of PM Modi and Shri Amit Shah."
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