NEW DELHI, May 4: Congress today attacked BJP and its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for the violence in Assam, saying it was a result of “communal polarisation” done by them to garner votes.
“The violence in Assam is the result of communal polarisation being done by Narendra Modi and BJP. Since BJP’s graph is going down now, they have raised the pitch. Modi’s speech in Assam was an attempt to polarise voters,” Congress leader Meem Afzal said.
32 people were killed, several others injured and thousands rendered homeless in two districts of Assam after attacks by militants belong to the anti-talks IK Songbijit faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-S).
The Congress leader said that the main opposition was trying to replicate what they did in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh especially keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections.
“They have tried to do polarisation in Assam in the same manner that they did in Bihar and UP. They are also doing it keeping in mind upcoming phases of polls in Bihar and UP,” Afzal added.
A political blame game over the Assam violence has erupted with BJP faulting “vote-bank” politics of Congress governments at the Centre.
Blaming Modi for the Assam violence, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had said that muslims were targeted because Modi made a speech there and tried to “incite” people against the community.
Senior Congress leader and Union Minister Kapil Sibal had also accused BJP leaders of playing the “communal card” to garner votes.
BJP, meanwhile, has accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of “not doing enough” to maintain law and order and good governance in Assam. It alleged that Congress-led governments were indulging in “votebank politics” and not taking adequate steps to control the situation in the state. (PTI)