Cong critical of Modi's call for 10-yr moratorium on communal strife

Alleges BJP is instigating religious riots ahead of Assembly elections

Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, were unconvinced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to reach out to them to practise the politics of consensus, as well as his appeal to all to declare a 10-year moratorium on communal violence.

Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said Modi should remember that the politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was “based on communalism”.

“On ground level, his party is instigating all riots and conflicts. The Prime Minister himself climbed the ladder through communal conflicts,” Ahmed alleged.

On Thursday, Congress’ member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor had told a gathering of college students that there was a “systemic increase” in cases of communal violence since the party came to power and accused it of using Hinduism as a badge of political identity to fit its “political agenda”.

“The communal violence debate in Parliament from the last couple of days was a serious attempt by my party to highlight the fact that in last 11 weeks since they (BJP) have come to power... we have seen a systematic increase in communal violence, an increase in polarisation of communities, particularly acute in places in UP which are going for by-elections. This is clearly a political agenda,” he said.

According to Congress sources, there was little effort at consensus by the BJP in the Lok Sabha, where it has consistently argued against giving the Congress the Leader of Opposition status, and that efforts at consensus were only a reflection of its lack of numbers in the Rajya Sabha. They said the BJP, if numbers had allowed it that luxury, would have pushed through the Insurance Bill rather than eventually agreeing with the rest of the opposition to refer it to a Parliamentary select committee.

The BJP has 42 members, and 57 along with the National Democratic Alliance, in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress has 69 MPs in the 245-member Upper House. The current strength of the House is 242 MPs, with the majority-mark being 122. The BJP is way short of this and can hope for favourable numbers only after the next biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha, when the House will elect a third of its members. The elections are scheduled for early 2016.

However, government sources dismissed the Congress’ charge. They said the government agreed to the opposition party’s demand to a discussion on communal violence in the Lok Sabha, while in the Rajya Sabha, it held an all-party meeting where it offered to accommodate minor modifications that the Congress wanted in the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill.