Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Tuesday condemned the BJP for “courting radicals” in Punjab for political gains.
He said while the BJP claimed itself to be a nationalistic party, it did not mind sharing stage with radicals and extremists.
He was reacting to the presence of a senior BJP Maharashtra leader at a programme organised by Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Dhuma at Chowk Mehta in Amritsar recently.
He asked the BJP leadership to clarify its position. “Was the Maharashtra BJP leader representing the party or was he on his own?” he said. In both situations, the BJP owed an explanation to the people of Punjab, he added.
The PCC president said if someone opposed the BJP, he was instantly damned as “anti-national” and now their own leaders were sharing stage and space with people whose positions were not unknown to anyone. “Not that anyone needs a certificate from the BJP, but it exposes duplicity and hypocrisy of the party preaching nationalism to others while resorting to rank opportunism for electoral gains,” he said.
He said Punjab had lost tens of thousands of people during the dark era. “Punjab has rejected the divisive and sectarian ideology long back. Don’t try to revive it for your electoral gains,” he warned the BJP.
