Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's "burqa (veil) of secularism" remark targeting the Congress today drew a stinging response from the ruling party which said it was much better than "naked communalism".
The Congress also sought to puncture the claim of BJP's election campaign chief on the issue of development in Gujarat, saying the state during Modi's tenure lagged behind on several development indicators.
"We will have to respond if the Chairman of the campaign committee of the BJP resorts to disinformation campaign and makes factually incorrect statements," AICC General Secetary Ajay Maken said, a day after Modi came down heavily on the Congress and the central government on various issues including the state of economy, development and corruption.
"The burqa of secularism is much better than naked communalism. While communalism divides, securalism binds," Maken said.
Modi had yesterday charged Congress with wearing the "burqa (veil) of secularism" and "hiding in a bunker" each time it is confronted with a crisis.
Accusing Modi of presenting 'erroneous' and 'false' figures, Maken said that a person, who has "not been able to serve his own people properly" and "failed" in his own state has no business telling the whole country what to do.
Drawing parallels from the achievements in Gujarat during Modi's tenure and the NDA rule at the Centre, Maken said the performance of the UPA was much better in all fields including GDP growth, tourism and education.
"I want to ask him what did he do in Gujarat that he keeps touring the whole country trying to give lessons to youths," he said, adding that only a handful from Gujarat won medals in Olympic and very tourists visited the state in ten years since Modi was Chief Minister.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said the choice before people was an inclusive India or an India which is sectarian.
"The vision of the Congress party is pluralistic and inclusive. And the vision of the section of the opposition has been sectarian, majoritarian and communal right from the beginning," Tewari said.
Reflecting a change in strategy on the part of Congress, which was earlier attempting to ignore Modi, a senior leader said that the party will counter the Gujarat Chief Minister's false claims and won't allow him to "mislead".
Speaking separately, Tewari said, "The BJP stands in splendid isolation. They feel that the only way forth is to try and polarise this country. And obviously they want to polarise it on communal lines".
He added that BJP and its predecessor Jan Sangh had also tried to define India from the "majoritarian point of view" but had failed in the last 64 years.
Modi had yesterday charged Congress with wearing the "burqa (veil) of secularism" and "hiding in a bunker" each time it is confronted with a crisis.
Noting that Modi had talked about statistics and criticised the UPA on food security and education, Maken said that Gujarat's record on Mid Day Meal was poor and it was in "bottom three" in its implementation with other two spots being taken by Punjab and West Bengal.
"There was 7.9 per cent average annual growth for nine years and 06 percent during the NDA. During the NDA, the GDP was 1.67 percent, which became 4.02 percent during UPA. In education, Gujarat spent 13.9 percent and was at the 14th position among the states.
"When UPA came to power in 2004, there were 17 central universities, 07 IITs and 6 IIMs, which increased to 44, 16 and 13 respectively. There was 67 per cent vacancy of senior faculty in engineering and degree colleges in Gujarat for last 10 years," he said.
Maken said that while Modi questions why the country is lagging behind in Sports, the performance of Gujarat, where Modi is Chief Minister from 2002, has been poor in Olympics.
"Of the 83, who qualified for the Olympics, how many were from Gujarat. We won six gold medals of which four were won by sportspersons from Haryana (Congress-ruled). In 2011, there were Jharkhand national games. Of the 444 gold medals, Gujarat got nil.
"Modi is Chief Minister there since 2002. What did he do for Gujarat in the last 11 years. I want to ask him what he has done for Gujarat that he keeps touring the country and lecturing the youths," Maken said.
The AICC leader said that the Gujarat Chief Minister should always remember the performance of the NDA government and his own in Gujarat when talking about the UPA.
"He is out to give 'gyan' to the entire nation. Better he first does all this in Gujarat," Maken said.
Asked why Congress leaders are suddenly reacting to everything that Modi was saying, the AICC's Communication Department in-charge said that if someone presents the facts wrong, the party feels that the other side of the story should also go to the nation.
Asked about Modi's criticism on falling rupee, he said it's an aspect of the economy and not everything.
Tewari said, "This polarisation is not about Hindus versus Muslims, it is not about those who are the sufferers of a pogrom and those who inflicted the pogrom. It is about the basic idea of India, what kind of India we want to see".
"An India where people of all faiths, all religions, all dispensations, all inclinations have the right to progress in peace or an India which is sectarian in character, where some people believe that if you are not with us, you are against us and if you are against us, you deserve to be crushed under the wheels of communalism. I think that is the question we need to answer," he said.
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