Digvijay slams Modi for his 'burqa' speech

Renewing his attack against Narendra Modi, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh alleged today that the Gujarat Chief Minister's politics is based on 'hatred and religious divide' as indicated by his recent 'burqa' remarks.

The Congress leader was in the city on his way back from the pilgrim town of Pandharpur where he had gone to worship Lord Vittal.

Accusing Modi of trying to create divide between Hindus and Muslims on every issue, Singh said, 'he could have used the words 'chaddar' of secularism instead of burqa, which has a religious connotation'.

He was referring to Modi's speech here on Sunday, in which he had accused the Congress of 'hiding behind the burqa of secularism' to divert attention from its failures on all fronts.

Talking to reporters here, Singh said that even in his election campaigns in Gujarat, Modi had resorted to the politics of religious hatred after initially talking about developmental issues.

Stating that the Congress' definition of secularism was 'Sarvadharmasamabhav' or respect for all religions, Singh said that all communal riots had been sparked by communal ideologies among Hindus and Muslims.

'The Congress has always fought against such ideology,' he said.

Replying to a question, he said that the Congress had not fought elections jointly with the MIM in Kerala which had extended its support to it on the basis of secularism.

Referring to the Bodh Gaya blasts, he said that he had only posed a question as to how it happened immediately after Modi's speech of 'teaching a lesson' to the Nitish Kumar government, without pointing a finger at anyone.