Rahul Gandhi has no fire but Cong playing with fire by attempting Hindu-Muslim divide: Rajnath
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has no fire while his party is playing with fire by attempting to create Hindu-Muslim divide for electoral dividends, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said.
In an interview to PTI, Singh also indicated that the BJP will implement its big-ticket plans like rolling out of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and implementing the 'One Nation One Election' push if it retains power for the third consecutive term.
The defence minister also said that he was confident that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross 400 seats and the BJP will get over 370 as these projections were made after detailed assessment of the ground situation and not made only for public consumption.
On the overall political landscape, the defence minister accused the Congress of attempting to disturb social harmony and trying to create tensions on religious lines.
"They are attempting to create Hindu-Muslim divide for electoral gains. The Congress is trying to create tensions on religious lines," he alleged.
"The Congress wants to disturb social harmony. They look at the Muslim community only as a vote bank. I have a suggestion for them -- politics should not be done only for forming governments. The aim of politics should be for nation building," he said.
"Rahul Gandhi has no fire but Congress is playing with fire," he said.
Singh said people of the country will repose their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP's tally will improve significantly based on the performance of the government in the last five years.
"Our seats will increase in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and we will get some seats in Tamil Nadu. Our account will open in Kerala as well. We are winning a good number of seats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana," the senior BJP leader said.
"We will increase our tally in Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam. We are sweeping Chhattisgarh," he said, asserting that the BJP will cross the 370-mark.
Asked whether the BJP's seats in Maharashtra will come down, he did not give a direct reply but said there may be some adjustments here and there.
The BJP leader also came down hard on the Congress for its plan to "redistribute" wealth, saying it will have disastrous consequences for the country's economy.
"The concept of redistribution of wealth will trigger recession. Argentina and Venezuela implemented it and faced disastrous consequences. The investors will lose confidence in India," Singh said.
On the BJP's big-ticket plans like implementation of the UCC and 'One Nation One Poll' push in if it retains power, Singh said it fulfils promises that it makes to the people of India.
In its manifesto, the BJP pledged to implement the UCC if it returns to power after the general elections.
It also mentioned that the party will move forward with a resolve to realise the idea of 'One Nation, One Election'.
"We always fulfil our commitments. We will never allow any question mark on our credibility and will not compromise on the country's unity and integrity. We implement whatever we say in our manifesto. We have to do whatever we say," Singh said.
"We will go for 'One Nation One Election. We will take views of every quarter, including all political parties on it," he said.
On the UCC, the defence minister said even the Constitution-makers felt a need for it, as it is mentioned in the directive principles.
"The Congress wants to create fear psychosis; they want to use the Hindu-Muslim card," he said.
"They do not have any issue. They want to form a government by dividing the society in the name of caste, creed and religion and they have always done it," he alleged.
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Police arrested Kejriwal's aide at same time his anticipatory bail plea was being heard: Atishi
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Minister Atishi alleged on Saturday that the city police arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar at the same time his anticipatory bail plea was being heard in court.
Kumar was arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal, officials said.
He was picked up from the chief minister's residence by a Delhi Police team around noon, a senior officer said.
Addressing a press conference, Atishi said Kumar had filed a plea for anticipatory bail before the Tis Hazari court.
Kumar was picked up for questioning by the Delhi Police around 11 am. As soon as he was taken for questioning, news channels started saying he had been arrested, she claimed.
"This shows the BJP's conspiracy. Their intention is to disturb our election campaign and Arvind Kejriwal," she said.
Atishi said the Tis Hazari court considered Kumar's matter urgent and agreed to hear his plea on Saturday itself.
"The court commenced hearing on his plea at 3:55 pm and within 20 minutes, the Delhi Police arrested him at the Civil Lines police station. As soon as his lawyers began arguments, the police learnt that their case is weak and Kumar would get relief. So they arrested Kumar," she claimed.
Atishi alleged that when the court was dictating its order on the matter at 4:55 pm, the Delhi Police lawyer appeared through videoconferencing and said Kumar had already been arrested.
Kumar's anticipatory bail plea has become "infructuous" as he has been arrested, the court observed.
The chief minister's aide, accused of assaulting Maliwal on May 13 at Kejriwal's residence, was arrested two days after an FIR was registered against him at the Civil Lines police station.
Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Anuj Tyagi, while dictating the order to the court staff on the anticipatory bail plea, noted that Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava appeared through videoconferencing around 4:45 pm and informed the court that Kumar had already been arrested.
Atishi said, "Even they knew that their case was weak and if the case was heard, Bibhav Kumar would get bail. That is why tomorrow (Sunday) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will lead all AAP leaders and to the BJP headquarters and court arrest."
Kejriwal said he and other AAP leaders would go to the BJP headquarters on Sunday "so that the prime minister can send anyone he wants to jail".
The BJP is saying they would send AAP MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj to jail, he claimed at a press briefing, hours after Kumar was arrested.
