By IANS,
Chandigarh : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not have any national agenda and it is trying to divert public attention with unimportant issues ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Anand Sharma said here Thursday.
“The BJP lacks any national agenda to contest the elections. They do not know what to do and out of frustration, they are bringing out one or the other false case before the public to malign the Congress party’s clean image,” Sharma told mediapersons.
“(BJP’s prime ministerial candidate) L.K. Advani has been raising the issue of bringing back to India the huge amount of Indian money lying in Swiss banks, but I do not know how he suddenly got this wisdom. This money has not gone there instantly. Then, why was he quiet earlier?” said the minister of state for external affairs.
The BJP has said that Rs.125,000 crore worth of black money has been stashed away by Indians in Swiss banks and other tax havens. It has been campaigning to get this money back and use it for developmental works.
Sharma said, “They are giving vague figures and they have nothing to authenticate it. Here, the first question arises that from where Advani has managed to collect these big figures.”
He said that Advani and the BJP were raising this issue to divert people’s attention away from their own shortcomings.
“They lack vision for this pluralistic country, that is why they are repeatedly dragging religion and communal things into politics that has undermined the basic idea of Indian politics,” stated Sharma.
Commenting on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s indication that the Congress was keeping its options open for a post-poll alliance with the Left parties, Sharma said, “Government formation is a game of numbers. Last time too, we did not have any pre-poll coalition.”
“The Congress is sure of winning the public mandate. However, we will cross the bridge when we reach there, and there is always a possibility of a post-poll alliance,” he added.