Srinagar: Terming Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's remarks as an "abuse" to democracy and crores of people with secular mindset, Congress on Wednesday demanded her resignation saying her apology meant "nothing".
"On one hand they (BJP) say 'sabka saath, sabka vikaas' but on the other one of their ministers Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti utters such sentences which, I feel, are an abuse. They are an abuse to democracy and to the crores of those people, from different religions, who have a secular mindset.
"Though she has apologised, we know that such an apology is nothing. She should feel ashamed and resign," Congress national spokesman Meem Afzal told reporters here.
Afzal said BJP was parroting the slogan of 'sabka saath, sabka vikaas', but there was a "huge difference" between what it says and what it does.
"Giriraj Singh (now a Union Minister) had said (before Lok Sabha elections) that those who do not vote for (the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra) Modi, should be sent to Pakistan. Does that mean about 69 per cent of the people, who did not vote for Modi, should go to Pakistan? Same Singh has been made a minister by Modi. There is a huge difference in their talking and doing.
"It is not 'sabka saath, sabka vikaas'. The BJP wants 'sabka saath' but only their own vikaas (development) and which they are doing," he said.
The Congress leader said BJP wants to rule the country single-handedly and was actually talking about "democracy-free India" when it talked about freeing the country from Congress and various regional parties.
"They (BJP) first talked about Congress-free India, now they talk about TMC-free India in Bengal, they talk about NC, PDP and Congress-free Kashmir and I think after some time they would talk about Akali-free India in Punjab where they are friends. They have a plan to free Maharashtra of Shiv Sena as well. I think it is not actually that they are talking about freeing India from these parties, they are talking about democracy-free India," he said.
Afzal said the BJP's government was a "u-turn" government and they had "mislead" the people to get their votes.
"They do a u-turn in everything. They fought the (Lok Sabha) elections on three issues ? inflation, corruption and return of black money. What have they done in the last six months? Have the prices of essential commodities come down?
"And the prices of everything in Kashmir are double because there was a disaster (floods). What is happening here is because of BJP which said they would do everything for the flood-affected people, but in reality did nothing," he said.
The Congress leader asked the people of Jammu and Kashmir to be "cautious" of Modi's "propaganda". "They (BJP) mislead people to get votes. The people of Jammu and Kashmir should be cautious and they should not fell for Modi?s propaganda. They (BJP) are doing politics of dividing the country," he said.
Terming as "joke" the BJP's "Mission 44 Plus", Afzal said the party was "event-managing" everything in the state. "I say with authority that BJP will not get a single seat in the Valley. I can see that BJP is using its all resources and Modi's agenda and style of functioning during elections is event management. He wants to reproduce that event management in the Valley after Jammu," he said.
"The double standards of the BJP are open. In Kashmir, they do not talk about Article 370, but in Jammu, all their leaders are whispering (about the issue)," he said.
Afzal said Congress would not allow BJP to form its government in the state. "I want to say that the BJP will not be able to form government in Jammu and Kashmir and it will be a political death for those who would to go with BJP... There would be no government in the state without Congress."
He also accused BJP of using Islamic preachers to "befool" the people. "Around ten thousand workers of RSS are working in Jammu. And the party is using maulavis (Islamic preachers) to befool the people. But the people of the Valley are secular and they will not allow a communal party like the BJP to succeed," he said.
