WB-THAROOR

BJP's priority is not development, but to create Hindu
rashtra: Tharoor
    Kolkata, Jan 22 (PTI) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on
Wednesday asserted that in the absence of any development
agenda, what the Bharatiya Janata Party wants is to create a
"Hindu rashtra".
    Speaking at the Kolkata Literary Meet here, Tharoor
also claimed the real "tukde tukde gang" is the ruling party
which is dividing the country into bits and pieces.
    "With no development on its agenda, the ruling party
is making a complete exposition of its agenda to create a
Hindu rashtra," Tharoor claimed.
    The present central government does not have the
mentality for development, the Congress leader alleged.
    "The real tukde tukde gang is the ruling party which
is dividing the country into bits and pieces. The party wants
to divide us further the way the British Raj did through the
divide and rule policy", he said.
    "Tukde tukde gang" is a term often used by the right-
wing parties to attack the opposition, particularly Left and
Left-backed outfits, as well as those who support them.
    "Should religion be a determinant for nationhood?
Mahatma Gandhi went for a secular India, unlike Pakistan which
went on to become an Islamic state.
    "Our Constitution reflects dignity and equality for
all. The Constitution reflects that and also essentially
rejected the idea of religion-based citizenship," Tharoor
said.
    For the first time in India, religion is considered as
a determinant for citizenship and excluding one religion,
Islam, he said.
    "The onus will be on us to prove that we are Indians,"
the Thiruvananthapuram MP claimed.
    BJP leaders often quote Swami Vivekananda but the monk
in his famous Chicago speech had greeted people of all faiths
of the world as brothers and sisters, he said.
    "But BJP has reduced this to six faiths and three
nations", he said.
    He was referring to the amended Citizenship Act that
seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains,
Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis entering India on or
before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and
Afghanistan after five years of residence here.
    Referring to the proposed nationwide NRC, Tharoor said
65 per cent of the people do not have documentation. "This is
what the present government has burdened us with".
    On the economic front, he alleged that the BJP has
destroyed the economy and brought in demonetisation "in
Tughlaqi style".
    "There is high level of unemployment, record number of
farmers committing suicides. There is food price inflation",
he said.
    Even investors' confidence is shattered as seen the
way the BJP sneered at Amazon's proposal of USD one billion
investments in India, he said. PTI dc
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)