Rather than admitting mistakes, BJP govt blaming Nehru for people's problems: Manmohan Singh
Chandigarh(PTI): The BJP had been in power for more than seven years and was still blaming first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the problems of the people, former prime minister and Congress leader Manmohan Singh said on Thursday in a scathing attack against the Modi-led government.
Targeting the Central government on a host of issues, including the farmers' agitation, foreign policy, price rise and unemployment, the former prime minister said ahead of the Punjab elections on February 20 that the Congress had never divided the country for political gains or hidden the truth.
"On the one hand, people are facing problems of price rise and unemployment, on the other, the present government which has been in power for the last seven and a half years, rather than admitting their mistakes and making amends, is still blaming first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for being responsible for people's problems," Singh said in a video message in Punjabi.
The Congress played the message at a press conference here.
"A few days ago, in the name of the prime minister's security, an attempt was made to defame Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the people of the state," he said, referring to Modi's convoy being stuck on a flyover in Ferozepur during the prime minister's visit to the state.
"During the farmers' agitation, too, an attempt was made to defame Punjab and Punjabiyat," he said.
The world salutes the bravery, patriotism and sacrifice of Punjabis, but the NDA government did not talk about any of this, Singh said.
As a true Indian hailing from Punjab, all these things deeply hurt me, he said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
