Cong terms BJP line on Muslims `opportunistic'

Cong terms BJP line on Muslims `opportunistic'
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, AUG 28: Senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia today charged the BJP with taking the people for a ride with its assertion that it was going to rework its relationship with the Muslim community.

Responding to BJP president Bangaru Laxman's statement yesterday at the party's national council meeting in Nagpur, Scindia said that these assertions were merely meant to placate Muslims. ``If the BJP is serious about it, let them openly disown their demand for a Uniform Civil Code, tender an apology for Babri Masjid and take action against all those involved in its demolition,'' he said.

Asserting that the BJP's new-found fondness for Muslims was sheer hypocrisy and the height of opportunism, Scindia said the people were not prepared to accept the BJP's different agenda for garnering votes and another one to run the Government.

``It can be safely said that the BJP is a party with no commitment... In a democracy, a political party cannot exist if it has a private and a public agenda,'' he said.

Scindia also asserted that the BJP's Nagpur session, apart from confirming that the party is totally incapable of ruling the country, has also exposed deep dissensions within it. ``The saner elements in the party have openly criticised the BJP and the Government for the inept manner in which the Kashmir issue has been handled,'' he pointed out.