``The Congress sheds tears for Dalits but saved the Laloo-Rabri Government from Article 356 of the Constitution. But it cried for President's Rule in Gujarat when nothing much had happened'', he said, addressing a party convention in the memory of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay. February 11 was Upadhyaya's 32nd death anniversary.

Thakre also called the Congress ``nikamma'' (nincompoop) and said the recent attack against christians in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa have taken place under Congress rule. There is a systematic propaganda against the BJP on this issue, he maintained. The BJP-led government believed that peace is a prerequisite for development but today, foreign powers want internal strife to continue in India so that development does not take place, he said.

Expectedly, Thakre justified the current economic problem, particularlyinflation, as an unfortunate legacy of the Congress regime under P V Narasimha Rao. ``Our government is fettered and has its limitations. Though we want to come out of an international agreement like the WTO, it is not possible,'' he says. He stressed on the BJP's pet theme of self-reliance saying, `'Whenever India has relied on foreigners it has borne terrible consequences''.

Thakre seems to have softened his stand on the Vajpayee Government. He complemented it for the Pokhran blast, resolving the Cauvery water dispute and easing tensions between India and Pakistan. ``It is not easy to govern, considering the mandate that this government has. It is not only a BJP Government but a coalition government''.

He emphasised that the BJP Government will work only on the national agenda, it has no ``hidden agenda'' as described by the Congress.

Earlier, the BJP's Mumbai president Kirit Somaiya defended Maharashtra's economic position under the Sena-BJP rule. He said that collection in small savings hadincreased from Rs 972 crore in January last year to Rs 1,631 crore this January. And there was a good response to the new bonds issue of the Krishna Valley Development Corporation, he said.