Ansari's Remarks Expose Ideological Divide Between Nehru's Congress And Today's Leadership: BJP

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday launched a scathing attack on Congress, stating that former Vice President Hamid Ansari's recent remarks, referring to a book on late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, have exposed on how the Congress party has turned into a“Muslim League-Maoist Congress”.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, the party's national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said,“According to a book written by former Vice President Hamid Ansari in 2019, Nehru ji stated that communism and Hindu nationalism did not pose a significant threat to him. I wish to congratulate Hamid Ansari for this.”

Elaborating on his remarks, Trivedi said,“According to him, Nehru ji held the view that communism and Hindu nationalism were not major threats. In this context, I want to congratulate Hamid Ansari for highlighting three crucial points. First: He has fully exposed that the Congress has now completely turned into a Maoist-Muslim League Congress.”

“This shows that Ansari has made it clear that the Congress -- in its entire structure -- has become a Maoist-Muslim League Congress, regardless of whether the person speaking held a constitutional post under their government or not,” he added.

Trivedi further argued that Ansari's reference to Nehru's views showed a contrast between the Congress of the past and its present political position.

“Secondly, he deserves congratulations for mentioning that, according to Nehru ji, there was a threat even greater than communism -- implying that Nehru viewed communalism as a threat -- whereas today's Congress has become ultra-leftist. Rahul Gandhi has embraced communism, something Nehru ji considered a danger,” he said.

“I also wish to commend Hamid Ansari for the third point. You used to ask why Nehru is brought up in discussions. Who brought up Nehru? We didn't raise the issue; your own supporters did, and it was raised by someone who had held a constitutional office,” the BJP spokesperson said.

Trivedi also questioned the Congress' alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala, referring to the political history of the Muslim League and its founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

“The Muslim League was founded by Jinnah, and you are running a government in alliance with them in Kerala. It is a dark chapter in the history of independent India that the Muslim League has five ministers. Are they truly secular?” Trivedi asked.

The BJP leader further challenged the argument that the Indian Union Muslim League was distinct from the Muslim League associated with Jinnah.

“If anyone claims that the Indian Union Muslim League is not the same as Jinnah's Muslim League, they are lying. Its founder, Muhammad Ismail, was the head of the Madras Presidency unit of Jinnah's Muslim League,” Trivedi said.

“If Jinnah was called 'Quaid-e-Azam', Muhammad Ismail was called 'Quaid-e-Millat'. If this Muslim League is not that Muslim League, then this Congress is also not the Congress that was known as the 'Indian National Congress',” he added.

Trivedi's remarks came amid the political exchange that followed Ansari's recent comments while delivering an address at the third A.G. Noorani Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on September 18.

The event, titled 'Remembering a Polymath: The Life and Times of Abdul Ghafoor Noorani', was organised to commemorate the life and work of the late jurist, constitutional expert and author A.G. Noorani.

Referring to Noorani's 2019 book The RSS: A Menace to India, Ansari quoted a passage in which the author cited an observation attributed to Nehru from a meeting of Ministry of External Affairs officials. Former Foreign Secretary Jagat Singh Gundevia recorded the observation.

Quoting the passage, Ansari said:“The danger to India, mark you, it is not communism; it is Hindu right-wing communalism.”

Ansari said the trends discussed in this context sought to replace civic nationalism with what he termed“cultural nationalism”. He argued that such an approach could portray an electoral majority as a religious majority and create distinctions among citizens based on their faith.

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