Cong says its best equipped to deal with terror, recession

Congress today accused the BJP of being a divisive force, termed the "so-called" Third Front as a "recipe for chaos" and sought to pitch itself as the party best equipped to deal "decisively" with the challenges of terrorism and "severe recession".

Ridiculing the BJP's "muscular" foreign policy to deal with terror, the Congress said the country required an "intelligent and wise" policy as practiced by the UPA government over the last five years.

The party manifesto released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi took credit for the "forceful diplomatic campaign" in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks which led to Pakistan admitting for the first time that its nationals carried out the terror strikes.

"That admission was a notable victory for our well thought out foreign policy," it said.

The party termed the Third Front as a grouping of "opportunistic parties" which has "neither competence nor commitment" and is "grounded in the politics of convenience".

Seeking to position itself as a bulwark against communalism, linguistic chauvinism, regional parochialism and casteism, the Congress termed the contest with the BJP as a "clash between two competing visions of Indian nationalism".