Congress promises dangerous, unimplementable, says BJP

The BJP on Tuesday hit out at Congress over its poll promises over Jammu and Kashmir and amending the sedition law and Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA), saying these were "dangerous" and will break the country.

Addressing a press conference soon after Congress manifesto was released, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it out of ignorance, the Congress President (Rahul Gandhi) makes "unimplementable and dangerous promises".

"I am sure the nation would not be in a mood to oblige him for implementing the kind of promises which are contained in this manifesto," he said.

The senior BJP leader claimed that some ideas in the manifesto are "positively dangerous" and agenda for 'balkanisation' of the country.

"Even though there was a drafting panel, it appears some of the points have been drafted by Congress President's 'tukde-tukde' friends when it deals with Jammu and Kashmir and national security. The Nehru-Gandhi family committed a historic mistake regarding Jammu and Kashmir and the nation can't forgive them for that. The Congress manifesto takes ahead that agenda dangerously.

"There mistakes have dragged Jammu and Kashmir to a situation where it is today. We are establishing rule of law, Congress wants to establish rules of terrorists and insurgents," he said.

Jaitley also slammed the Congress over the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits finding no place in the manifesto and said the biggest failure in independent India was the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pundits.

On Congress's promise of amending the sedition law and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, he said it was Congress's tradition that they withdrew laws like The Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).

"No nation over the last 72 years has dealt with terrorism like India. Our fight against terror didn't start after 9/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Punjab, North East, we have seen many struggles. We lost a part of Jammu and Kashmir.

"A provision that Nehru, Indira, Rajiv Gandhi and even Manmohan Singh didn't dare touch, they say sedition would be done away with, that treason won't be a crime anymore, such a party doesn't deserve a single vote," Jaitley said.

He said the AFSPA was essentially a sanctioning law for disturbed or insurgency-hit areas and deals with internal subversion.

"Those who laid lives for the nation, you want them to be prosecuted at the behest of relatives of terrorists, or their friends. Ingratitude is the biggest sin a party can commit," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Congress released it's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, stressing that dialogue was the only way to understand the aspirations of the people of the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir to find an honourable solution to their issues.

It also promised to review the AFSPA and sedition law among others.

--IANS

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