Don't Form Alliance With Family-Run Parties: Congress' Challenge To BJP

The Congress on Saturday dared the BJP not to forge alliances with any such party which Prime Minister Narendra Modi considers as family-run.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera questioned why the BJP was tying up with leaders of family-run parties and also having leaders from political families in its ranks despite PM Modi often attacking dynasty politics.

Mr Khera further attacked the BJP for not acting against "fraud elements" within the organisation who were found to be involved in duping their own people or impersonating as close associates of their top leaders.

"The prime minister should stop talking about families, dynasties in politics because his own party, his own cabinet is brimming with people who come from political families.

"Let the prime minister come out clearly, before the next Lok Sabha elections that the BJP will have no alliance before or after election with any party which according to the prime minister is a family-run party. Let him have the courage to show confidence," Mr Khera told reporters.

He said the BJP has 303 seats today and wondered what stops the prime minister from announcing that as a policy the BJP will not have any alliance with any party which according to it is run by a family.

"Let him first set an example then we will comment on that," he dared.

"We openly challenge the Prime Minister to declare today that the BJP will not forge an alliance with any party which Modi ji considers to be family-oriented. Isn't Ajit Pawar someone's nephew? Why is BJP forging an alliance with them," he also said.

Pawan Khera also claimed that some "fraudsters" arrested by police in several states have been associated with the BJP-RSS and questioned why the ruling party's top leadership or agencies have not acted against them sternly.

"If ED, CBI, SFIO can probe opposition leaders, then why can't they probe this grand conspiratorial operation," he asked.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh asked on Twitter, "Those who are openly threatening opposition leaders with ED-CBI raids, when will they find time to rein in their own network of fraudsters? How is it that these 'Thugs' being caught one after the other, all have connections with the top leadership of the RSS or BJP?".

"Does the RSS-BJP ecosystem work through a network of Fraud Market Corrupt Gang (FMCG)," he asked.

"The PM has called the BRS the most corrupt government in India. So naturally the BJP and BRS are together. Remember earlier this year HM had called the Meghalaya Government of Conrad Sangma the most corrupt government. Thereafter, BJP tied up with Mr Sangma.

"I had written a letter to CBI on March 21, 2023 requesting it to question the HM on the very serious charges he had made. There has yet to be any movement on it. And of course there was a time when the PM had termed the NCP as a 'Naturally Corrupt Party'," Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.

Mr Khera asked whether such elements were doing the dirty work of breaking political parties and buying MLAs.

"Modi ji proclaims that he does not believe in 'Parivar-vaad' but every fraud seem to be related to his ilk," Pawan Khera also asked, questioning whether thugs, blackmailers and imposters are found to be associated with with the ruling establishment and arrested at several places.

"The BJP-RSS which regularly proclaim probity in public life and threaten the opposition with daily ED-CBI raids, have no time to rein in their own network of fraudsters," he alleged, while naming several such people held by the police.

The Congress spokesperson named Kiran Patel from Gujarat, who roamed in the sensitive border state of Jammu & Kashmir in VVIP protocol with fake documents and IDs of PMO and even chaired continuous meetings with officials. He also mentioned about Sanjay Rai Sherpuria, who allegedly involved in a multi-crore fraud.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)