Pune, Jul 15: Amid uproar over his remarks on 2002 riots, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today charged Congress with wearing the “burqa (veil) of secularism” and “hiding in a bunker” each time it is confronted with a crisis.
Addressing a public meeting here, Modi also attacked Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on the issue of his party's “failure” to eradicate poverty and alleged that it was raising the bogey of “threat to secularism” to throttle people's aspirations.
“Look minutely, whenever Congress is faced with a challenge- whether is corruption, price rise, directives from the Supreme Court, or a minister being jailed, or the rape of girls or an atmosphere of insecurity- they do not answer the people.
The moment there is a crisis, they wear the ‘burqa' (veil) of secularism and hide in a bunker,” Modi said. BJP has often charged the Congress with engaging in minority appeasement for votebank politics.
Modi said Congress follows this act by insisting that one should not talk about poverty or corruption or price rise at this juncture as “secularism is in danger”. He charged that Congress has done this for decades.
The BJP leader said Congress will not be able to throttle the aspirations and hopes of the people in the name of secularism any longer.
“Congress will no longer be able to keep the poor hungry, or the young unemployed or distance itself when a girl is raped. Now this medicine will not work,” Modi said.
Though Modi attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for failing to check the fall of the rupee despite being an expert on economics, he was more scathing on Rahul Gandhi.
Without naming Gandhi, Modi said the “heir” spends nights in the homes of the poor and shows this to the media and foreigners as “remnants of the past” when 35 years back Congress had given the slogan of removing poverty.
