"Parties have awarded secularism certificates to themselves"

Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said on Tuesday that parties who have awarded secularism certificates to themselves are trying to change the agenda in the country, as per reports in a news agency. Also, in a statement which can be construed to be aimed at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, he said that one cannot make jokes when people`s blood was being spilled. He added that such an act would not be tolerated in a democracy. Nitish Kumar had yesterday said that terrorists in a way had helped BJP in its "otherwise flop" rally. He was referring to the October 27 Hunkar rally in Patna of BJP`s prime ministerial candidate for 2014 General Elections Narendra Modi. Serial blasts had rocked Patna ahead of the rally and as per investigations till now, the Indian Mujahideen is being suspected as being behind the blasts. The JD(U) leader also dubbed his Gujarat counterpart as an "expert in cultivation of falsehood" and slammed Modi for accusing the Bihar administration of `criminal negligence of security` at his rally. "The incidence of serial blasts at the rally in Patna was most condemnable... But terrorists in a way helped BJP, otherwise its rally at Patna was flop in terms of size of crowd," he told reporters. "Had the blast not happened, everybody would have talked about the thin attendance at the Hunkar rally for which BJP leaders had claimed it would be unprecedented in terms of size," Kumar said after the `Janata Ke Darbar me Mukhya Mantri` programme. With PTI inputs