Congress hits back at Modi over 'secularism' comments

Modi had yesterday charged Congress with wearing the 'veil of secularism' each time it is confronted with a crisis

Just days after he triggered an outrage with his analogy of a puppy being run over in the context of the 2002 communal riots, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has once again come under attack from the Congress over his 'veil of secularism' comment.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said: "This is not the first time the BJP has attempted this."

In fact, the BJP and its organization the RSS, has always been trying to define India as majority-oriented nation.

"It has not worked for last 64 years. And, it will not work in the future," he said.

"The message which I want to send out very clearly is that this thought, this ideology is dangerous not only for minorities alone, but also dangerous and far more dangerous for al those people in the majority community who believe in pluralism, who believe in inclusion, who believe in a way forward for both peace and harmony," he added.

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has also hit out at Modi over his secularism comment, asking Modi to clarify his definition of secularism.

"I want to know what is the definition of secularism according to Modiji. One religion, one culture, one nation is the definition of secularism according to the RSS and Advaniji. Modiji should clarify what is his definition of secularism," Singh told media here.

Modi had on Sunday charged the Congress with wearing the "burqa (veil) of secularism" and "hiding in a bunker" each time it is confronted with a crisis.

Addressing a public meeting in Pune, Modi also attacked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on the issue of his party's "failure" to eradicate poverty and alleged that it was raising the bogey of "threat to secularism" to throttle people's aspirations.

Modi also blamed the Congress for the deteriorating economic condition of the country, and specifically targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a great economist, for failing to prevent the free fall of the rupee.

"When India achieved Independence, that time one Indian rupee was equivalent to one US dollar. Today, the Indian rupee is in a free fall. What is the reason behind the free fall of the rupee? It is because the Congress is neck-deep in corruption," he said.

Modi had earlier come under sharp criticism from the ruling Congress over his interview to Reuters news agency in which he said that he had done 'absolutely right thing' in 2002 when the state was hit by riots and that an SIT set up by the Supreme Court had given him a 'thoroughly clean chit'.

What caused the controversy was his following remark: "Another thing... someone else is driving a car and we"re sitting behind, even then if a puppy comes under the wheel, will be painful or not? Of course, it is. If I'm a chief minister or not, I'm a human being. If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad," he said, while defending himself.

Modi also described himself as a Hindu nationalist because he was a born Hindu.