GUWAHATI, March 7 - Asserting that the State was witnessing a �Congress wave� ahead of the Assembly polls, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that the BJP�s �communal agenda� would fly in its face as the electorate was seeing through the saffron brigade�s sinister game-plan.
Gogoi said that Rahul Gandhi�s poll campaign in Assam had been an overwhelming success, as testified to by the masses� spontaneous response to his padayatra and interactive programmes.
Addressing a press conference as the Assam Congress Legislature Party leader, Gogoi said that in a never-before manner, the BJP was taking its ideological difference with other parties to the masses � something fraught with ominous consequences for a pluralist society like India.
�It�s normal for political parties to have ideological differences, but never before in the country�s history have political variations been taken to the masses in such a bitter manner by any political party. It�s crystal clear that the BJP is dividing society on communal lines for narrow political gains. But such dangerous designs will not succeed, as people reject hate politics,� he said.
Accusing the BJP of trying to impose its narrow, sectarian ideology on the masses, Gogoi said that India�s multi-cultural social fabric never approved any divisive and homogenous ideology. He added that the earlier BJP regime under Atal Behari Vajpayee never endorsed a divisive, communal and intolerant agenda.
�Any imposition of a mono-cultural ideology will not succeed. The BJP is also intolerant of dissent and is quick to brand anyone who differs with it as anti-national. Right to dissent is fundamental to democracy. We saw how people rejected Indira Gandhi after she had imposed emergency. But later she was able to win the people�s confidence again. During emergency administration was efficient and there was no corruption, but freedom of speech was absent, and that�s unacceptable in democracy,� he said.
Asserting that the country needed economic freedom as well, Gogoi said that the BJP�s obsession with capitalism would harm the country. �A country like India cannot follow unbridled capitalism because that often goes against public interest. The government must have a role in sectors like education and health-care,� he added.
Referring to the JNU controversy, Gogoi said that although shouting anti-national slogans was not a desirable thing, yet, it would be ridiculous to charge such persons with sedition. �During the ULFA�s heyday, lots of people in Assam were sympathetic to the outfit. Does that mean that we should have put thousands of people behind the bar? Of course, one has to act tough when it comes to violence, but you need to be pragmatic to erode the support base of insurgents,� he said.
