Congress most communal, suffering from Modi-phobia: BJP

Piqued by the Congress' sustained tirade against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election campaign committee chief Narendra Modi following his multi-pronged attack on the ruling party, BJP on Wednesday replied by dubbing Congress as the "most communal" party suffering from "Modi-phobia".

"Why is the Congress is keeping mum on three important issues including its promise to contain rise in prices of essential commodities within 100 days of coming to power, eradication of poverty as announced in 1971 and wastage of foodgrains, which were raised by Modi in his rally in Pune?," questioned BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.

The Congress should clear the air on diversion of foodgrains to liquor manufacturers at cheaper rate, he said. "The Congress is down with Modi-phobia. It skirts real issues and is indulging in communalism. The Congress is the most communal party," Javadekar said in an apparent reference to Congress' reply to Modi's pseudo-secularism barb.

Speaking at the party rally in Pune on Sunday, Modi taunted the Congress of donning a "veil of secularism when in crisis", triggering sharp reaction from the Congress which replied saying "burqua of secularism is better than naked communalism".

On resignation of Delhi BJP vice-president Aamir Raza Husain over Narendra Modi's "puppy" remarks, Javadekar said the BJP did not expel any individual unlike the Bahujan Samaj Party which sacked its Member of Parliament Vijay Bahadur Singh".

The Hamirpur MP was shown door by the BSP on Wednesday for making statements which went against the "philosophy and principles" of the party.

"Even Samajwadi Party leader Shahid Siddiqui also had to face similar consequences for conducting Modi's interview for his Urdu newspaper," Javadekar said. He was referring to the Samajwadi Party's stand of disowning Siddiqui for conducting Modi's interview for his Urdu newspaper 'Nai Duniya' last year.