BJP National President JP Nadda.
Credit: PTI photo
Chitrakoot: BJP president J P Nadda on Thursday slammed the Congress over Sam Pitroda's "racist" remarks and said that an advisor of Rahul Gandhi talked about dividing India on the basis of colour of skin.
Addressing a poll rally here, Nadda also claimed that the Congress wants to usurp the rights of Dalits, tribals, and backwards by giving reservations on the basis of religion.
"A general and advisor of Rahul Gandhi has talked about dividing India on the basis of colour of skin. Such people are playing with the culture of India", he said.
Pitroda stoked a major controversy with his remarks during a podcast where he cited ethnic and racial identities like Chinese, Africans, Arabs and Whites to describe the physical appearance of Indians from different parts of the country.
The veteran leader was an advisor to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and has been closely associated with Rahul Gandhi, accompanying him during his foreign visits.
"These days Rahul Gandhi is roaming around with a copy of the Constitution... the Congress wants to usurp the rights of our Dalit, tribal, and backward brothers by giving reservations on the basis of religion", Nadda said.
Talking about the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc, he said, "This 'ghamandia gathbandhan' (arrogant alliance) is an alliance of only two things. The alliance members want to save the corrupt and their families". The BJP president also said that 10 years ago, this thought had taken root in the minds of ordinary citizens of India that nothing would change now and the rule of goons will continue.
"But after the arrival of Modi ji, everything has changed in Indian politics. In the elections, you are not only making the BJP win, but you have also started moving towards fulfilling the resolution of a 'viksit Bharat'",he said.
Intensifying his attack on the opposition, Nadda said, "Earlier, nepotism, casteism, corruption, and appeasement were the dominant factors in Indian politics. But in the last 10 years, Modi ji took on the politics of casteism, regionalism and appeasement and pushed forward the politics of development on the basis of 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas'". Whatever the BJP promised has been done, and whatever was not said has also been done, he added.
The BJP chief also said that Prime Minister Naredra Modi has worked to strengthen the villages, the poor, the deprived, the youth, farmers and women.
"There was a time when Uttar Pradesh was a 'BIMARU' state. But today, under the leadership of Modi ji and (UP Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath ji, Uttar Pradesh has become one of the leading states of the country", Nadda said.
The acronym "BIMARU" (sick) was coined by demographer Ashish Bose in the mid-1980s, formed from the first letters of names of some of the poorest states, namely Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Chitrakoot district comes under the Banda Lok Sabha constituency where voting will be held on May 20 in the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.