Sitting MP and Punjab Democratic Alliance candidate from Patiala, Dharamvir Gandhi, feels the BJP's nationalism is chauvinism and that India will go Pakistan's way if the armed forces are "intermixed" with the political class.
The 67-year-old lawmaker also accused the Narendra Modi government of usurping the power of states and giving a free hand to right-wing "fringe" groups such as the Hindu Mahasabha, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad the Bajrang Dal.
On the BJP's high-pitched nationalism narrative, Gandhi said, "It's not nationalism but chauvinism. To be nationalistic is one thing, to be chauvinist and spread hatred is other."
Asked if the Congress tried to score brownie points by saying that former prime minister Indira Gandhi liberated Bangladesh, the cardiologist said, "Definitely. I don't endorse Pakistan's oppression against Bangla people, but India's role in it was wrong."
"India is a bouquet of different religious, cultural, linguistic and racial identities. If you try to pluck a flower, the bouquet will fall apart. Also, a bouquet with only one kind of flowers doesn't look beautiful."
On the issue of the continuing farm crisis in Punjab, Gandhi said, "There's a need for some drastic steps. Subsidising and incentivising agriculture is imperative to save small farmers. The big corporates have their eyes set on the farm sector. It will be either cooperative or corporate."