The Hindu : Nehru-Vajpayee comparison incorrect: Congress

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Friday, Mar 26, 2004

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Other States - Himachal Pradesh

Nehru-Vajpayee comparison incorrect: Congress

By Our Staff Correspondent

SHIMLA, MARCH 25. The Congress party has taken exception to the claims made by the BJP in its election campaign about the country's freedom struggle. It has called the efforts to misuse the names of the icons of the freedom movement like Jawaharlal Nehru as "ironical" especially on the part of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani.

Addressing a Press conference here today, the AICC spokesman Anand Sharma said that BJP was trying to hijack the contributions of freedom movement through direct or surrogate campaign. He said it was an "insult" to compare Jawaharlal Nehru, who had led the struggle from the front, with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who was a `non-participant' in the struggle. He said Vajpayee had always represented an ideology which was sectarian, communal and divisive.

Calling such references of comparison by Mr. Advani as incorrect, Mr. Sharma said while Nehru had worked for a liberalised, secular, democratic polity throughout his life, Mr. Vajpayee represented an ideology of the narrow and communal mindset of Sangh Parivar.

Mr. Sharma challenged the BJP leadership to name a single person from the Sangh background who had made any contribution towards the freedom struggle.

The Congress also blamed the NDA Government for selling the blue chip PSUs to the private sector under its "grand clearance sale". When asked about the lack of clarity on the issue of disinvestment in the Congress manifesto, he said his party was against any disinvestment in profit making PSUs and in strategic and sensitive sectors. He said the details on this issue would figure in the "Vision Documents" of the party to be released soon.

Mr. Sharma who is seeking a Rajya Sabha nomination from the State denied any factionalism in the State party unit.

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Nehru-Vajpayee comparison incorrect: Congress