Accusing the Congress and its INDIA bloc allies of having a “pro-Pakistan” mentality and engaging in “divisive politics”, former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Sunday (September 1, 2024) said the upcoming Assembly election in the State was “not about development but honour”. Mr. Deb said only the BJP can keep the State’s honour “intact”.
Invoking Pakistan and Bangladesh, Mr. Deb, the Haryana election co-incharge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the Congress and its allies speak the language of Pakistan and want to play politics by dividing the people “the way the Mughals and the British did”. He said Haryana, whose soldiers made “the maximum sacrifice” for the country, will not tolerate this.
“Why does the Congress want power? Is it to handover India to Pakistan? Or is it to disintegrate India into small factions,” asked Mr. Deb at a Jan Aashirvaad rally in Haryana’s Jind. He said the BJP was the party of the poor, the youth and the sportspersons.
Former Jannayak Janta Party MLAs Ramkumar Gautam, Anoop Dhanak and Jogi Ram Sihag, along with Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma, mother of Rajya Sabha member Kartikeya Sharma, joined the BJP at the rally. Mr. Dhanak was the Minister of State for Labour in the Manohar Lal-led BJP government.
“Sawal vikas ka nahi hai, izzat ka hai. (It is not the question of development. It is about honour),” said Mr. Deb, adding that Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini can hold the State’s prestige intact under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Referring to the Kolkata rape-and-murder case, the West Tripura MP said the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav “did not say a word on it”. “They want power to exploit, but the BJP wants power to make India stronger and Haryana the number one State,” he said.
Taking a veiled dig at the Congress, Mr. Deb said the party could not decide on the list of candidates with its three leaders fighting over ticket distribution.
Describing Chief Minister Saini as “garib ka beta (son of the poor)”, Mr. Deb, said Mr. Saini had laid the foundation to give a new direction to Haryana though he got little time to work as Chief Minister.
Mr. Saini said the people of the State would overwhelmingly support the BJP to form its government “with 85 seats in the 90-member Assembly” and the Congress would find it “difficult to even open its account”. He said unlike the BJP that had a clear policy and a strong leadership under Mr. Modi, the Congress “lacked policy, intention and leadership”.
