Sharad Pawar makes anti-BJP noises

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has expressed hope for Bihar to “expose” the BJP government at the Centre by defeating it in the upcoming state Assembly elections to be held by this year-end. He said the BJP’s false assurances and hollow slogans would be exposed in the Bihar polls and added that if fundamentalist forces were not checked it would have serious repercussions.

Mr Pawar was addressing the delegates’ session of the party at Sri Krishna Memorial Hall, Patna at the concluding session of the two-day national convention.

“The route to every big change in Delhi goes through Bihar. We (NCP) are confident that the secular alliance (Janata Parivar) in Bihar will succeed in its objective of defeating the BJP,” Mr Pawar said after being elected the party president at the convention.

He referred to the senior BJP leader L.K. Advani’s rath yatra in 1992, which was first stopped in Bihar. Recalling the incident, the NCP chief said that everyone knows that the so-called dharma yatra of Mr Advani was stopped in Bihar.

“I strongly believe that the reality of false assurances and hollow slogans of the Modi government at the Centre will be exposed in the coming Bihar Assembly elections,” Mr Pawar said, adding that BJP will have to face defeat and the NCP will gain a strong position.

Addressing the delegates, Mr Pawar also stressed on the need for social harmony in the country, which he said has been neglected in the one year since the BJP-led NDA government came to power at the Centre.

“Lack of social harmony is another big challenge before the country apart from increasing uncertainty in agriculture and economy. Religious places of minorities are being attacked. Objectionable slogans like ‘Ghar Wapsi’ and ‘Love Jihad’ are being raised. The fabric of social harmony is being undermined,” he said.

He also referred to a report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

“The report has expressed serious concerns on incidents of compelling people to change their religion, attack on churches and objectionable charges being levelled against the Muslim minority,” he said.

Courtesy: The Asian Age