THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Apr 13:
Union Minister and senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu today alleged that the Jammu and Kashmir issue was a “creation” of the Congress and accused the party of making the issue “political” now.
“The Jammu and Kashmir issue is a Congress creation. Had it been left to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who successfully unified 565 princely states, he would have tackled it successfully,” he told reporters here.
Naidu was reacting to the mention of the Kashmir issue in a memorandum submitted to President Pranab Mukherjee by the opposition parties yesterday.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, briefing the media on the memorandum, had said the continuous violence and “failure of governance” in Jammu and Kashmir were matters of grave national concern.
Hitting back, Naidu said, “You (Congress) have taken it on yourself. Now, the Congress party is trying to create problems for the country by making it political.”
He also alleged, “You are hard on nationalists and soft on terrorists…You sympathise with the Al Ummah and try to find fault with the RSS.”
Without naming Pakistan, Naidu said a neighbouring country was “aiding, abetting and funding terrorists”. Instead of condemning terrorists, they tried to make a common cause with the advocates of terror, he added.
Reacting to reports that some Congress leaders in Kerala were planning to join the BJP, the Union minister claimed that the saffron party was not making any efforts to woo anybody.
However, he added, “No wise men and women can stay in the Congress as it is a sinking ship. It has deviated from reality.”
When asked specifically if Congress MP Shashi Tharoor would join the BJP, Naidu quipped, “He (Tharoor) is an intelligent person. Whether he is politically wise or not, only time will tell.” (PTI)
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