Welcome criticism of party but not of nation: BJP
NEW DELHI: The “anti-national” slogans that were allegedly raised in the precincts of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here in February cast their shadow on the proceedings of the BJP’s national executive meeting that began here on Saturday.
The BJP lashed out at the Congress and Left parties for extending support to the students and for justifying the slogans as ‘freedom of expression’. It cautioned that “criticism of the nation will not be tolerated.”
The BJP, which is gearing up for polls in four states and one union territory, was acerbic in its criticism of Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi for visiting the campus to express solidarity with the students.
“Rahul Gandhi visited the campus, did not say anything about the anti-national slogans, but tried to justify them as freedom of expression,” Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, quoting party president Amit Shah’s address at the meeting.
Prasad said Shah emphasised that the BJP will welcome any criticism of its “leader, party and the government”, but not of the nation.
Shah underlined that the BJP’s commitment to freedom of expression cannot be questioned by the Congress that had imposed the Emergency on the country and the Left parties that idolise leaders such as Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin.
Following up on the direction given by PM Narendra Modi earlier in the day to disseminate information about gover nment schemes, Shah instructed the cadres to relay the information about peoplefriendly schemes to the electorate.
The party also passed a resolution hailing the recentlyannounced budget for allocating sizeable funds for rural areas and for development activities.
The two- day meeting i s expected to draw a road map for the forth coming elections and on how to present the gover nment’s achievements vis-à-vis meeting the demand for one rank, one pension, farmer-friendly policies and the budget.
Rahul Gandhi visited the campus, did not say anything about the anti-national slogans, but tried to justify them as freedom of expression, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union minister