New Delhi: The Congress Sunday criticised
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for "dragging" Sonia
Gandhi into the issue of Bhopal gas tragedy case, saying the
BJP leader practiced "disruptive, divisive and a low level of
politics".
"Narendra Modi has always practiced disruptive, divisive
and a low level of politics and we reject his suggestions with
contempt," Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan told
reporters when asked to react to Modi`s comments at a BJP
rally in Patna.
Attacking the Congress chief over her "silence" on the
Bhopal gas tragedy verdict, Modi today asked her to explain
who was the `Maut ka saudagar` (merchant of death).
Sonia Gandhi had during the campaign for the 2007
Gujarat Assembly polls called Modi a merchant of death for the
2002 riots in the state in the aftermath of the Godhra train
carnage.
"This is the brand of intellectually, morally and
politically bankrupt politics which is being practiced by
Narendra Modi. There is absolutely no moral right on Modi`s
part for dragging in Soniaji after 26 years of the Bhopal
tragedy, when she was not in politics at the time he was
talking about," she said, adding the BJP itself had a lot of
explaining to do on the issue.
The Congress spokesperson said that Modi`s brand of
politics had brought him to a stage when his own alliance
partner, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, refused to share
platform with him, and the Gujarat Chief Minister goes to the
extent of placing false advertisements in newspapers.
"The BJP itself has a great deal to answer regarding the Bhopal gas tragedy. What has the BJP done in the last 26
years in Bhopal?" she said.
Natarajan said her party had made it "absolutely clear"
that the government had set up a Group of Ministers, who will
once again go into the issue, and that the party wanted all the
facts to come out in the Bhopal tragedy episode.
She also questioned the BJP on what it had done in the
six years it was in power at the Centre.
"Let Modi please explain why did the BJP government --
including the present Shivraj Singh Chauhan government in
Madhya Pradesh -- ever try (to get justice to the Bhopal
victims), why did they reject the Centre`s request to set up
an empowered commission into the Bhopal incident to help the
victims. Why does not Modi answer that?" she said.
She also asked why the BJP government accepted the legal
opinion given by an American law firm, which said that
extraditing Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson (to try in the
Bhopal tragedy case) should not be done.
"Why did the BJP government accept that (legal opinion),"
she queried.
Natarajan also asked why the NDA government in Bihar
refuse to use the central funds for cleaning up the water
table in the state.
PTI
