'Namazvad, not Samajwad': BJP attacks Tejashwi for 'will bin Waqf Act' remark; says 'won't happen'
NEW DELHI: The
(
) on Monday went all out in its attack against
(RJD) leader
, after he vowed during a rally in Patna to "throw the Waqf Act into the dustbin" if the
Mahagathbandhan
(grand alliance) is voted to power in the upcoming
.
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Tearing into the rival INDIA bloc, which also includes the RJD, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi pointedly criticised socialist parties -- accusing them of "not standing up for the rights of the poor and oppressed Muslims".
"These parties like RJD, Samajwadi Party, etc, who are wearing the garb of socialism, are not standing up for the rights of the poor and oppressed Muslims. Therefore, the socialism of RJD and SP cannot be called socialism at all.
If it is called 'Namazvad', then it will not be an exaggeration," Trivedi said during a press briefing on Monday.
The BJP leader claimed Tejashwi's remark was made "in the pursuit of the vote bank" and said the Congress-led INDIA bloc has "not been able to move beyond the 50-year-old mentality of throwing the Constitution in the dustbin."
Trivedi was referring to the 1975 National Emergency imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which caused massive upheaval across the political spectrum.
The BJP leader also said that the remarks of ex-Bihar CM Lalu Yadav's son had "no respect for the Parliament, judiciary" as the Waqf Act was passed by both Houses of the Indian Parliament.
"Recently, 50 years of the Emergency, the most dreadful chapter in the democratic history of India, were completed. But it is very sad that yesterday in the same Gandhi Maidan in Patna, where during the Emergency lakhs of people had gathered without caring for their lives to protect the Constitution, a rally was held in which Tejashwi Yadav said that we will throw the law passed by the Parliament in the dustbin," Shudhanshu Trivedi said during media briefing.
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Stepping up an attack on the anti-BJP bloc, Trivedi said: "I want to ask the INDI alliance, are you thinking of implementing Sharia law in Bihar, which is bigger than Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey and ISIS?"
He further said: "BJP and the NDA alliance are determined that if anyone wants to throw Baba Saheb Ambedkar's constitution, any of its provisions, into the dustbin, we will not let that happen."
The politics around Waqf appear to have been reaching to its boiling point as Bihar goes to the polls for 243 assembly seats in a few months.
The BJP, led by Prime Minister Modi, is contesting in alliance with Nitish Kumar's JD(U) under the NDA banner. Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadav's RJD, as part of the opposition INDIA bloc, will challenge the ruling alliance in the state elections. Tejashwi is the
Mahagathbandhan
CM face.
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