Tired of BJP's motivated claims against Nehru: Congress

NEW DELHI: Slamming the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill as "political gerrymandering" designed by BJP to win elections in J&K, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday rebuffed criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru and asserted that it was the first PM who vetoed the ceding of the state to Pakistan, as planned by the British. He challenged BJP to keep a day to discuss Nehru in Lok Sabha, lamenting that Congress was tired of the motivated claims made by the saffron party against its icon.

Citing a book, Chowdhury claimed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel tried to convince Liaquat Ali Khan in the Partition Council to take Kashmir and leave Hyderabad.

He listed various terror incidents during the Modi government's tenure and dubbed the 2019 Pulwama attack as the deadliest in three decades even though "it was avoidable". He said terror was rising, and questioned the government's claim that abrogation of Article 370 would end terror. He quoted former J&K governor Satyapal Malik that Pulwama happened because of the government's lapses, regretting that anyone who asked about the issue was termed anti-national by BJP.

Chowdhury asked BJP if it was following former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's "Insaniyat, Jumhuriyat, Kashmiriyat" philosophy. "PM Narendra Modi had said he wants to remove 'Dilli ki Duri' as well as 'Dil ki Duri', but has 'Dil ki Duri' been removed? There is a need for some sort of introspection as far as Kashmir is concerned," the Congress leader said.


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