In a 'letter to the nation,' Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Monday, 18 April, said that "the list of communal violence during the Congress rule is long."
Citing incidents of communal unrest that took place under the UPA reign, Nadda said, "Gujarat 1969, Moradabad 1980, Bhiwandi 1984, Meerut 1987, various incidents against the Hindus in Kashmir valley throughout the 1980s..."
He also targeted the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and other parties, saying, "The shameful political violence in West Bengal and Kerala and the repeated targeting of BJP workers offer a glimpse of how some of our political parties view democracy."
The BJP president's letter comes after 13 Opposition leaders had issued a statement condemning the recent spate of communal incidents across the country. He noted that the Opposition parties had recently come together in a letter, "in which they have waged a direct onslaught on the spirit of our nation and cast aspersions on our hardworking citizens."
Nadda said that "two distinctive styles of politics" prevailed in the country, and asserted that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was working for the nation while some other parties were playing "petty politics."
"I would urge the Opposition to change track and embrace the politics of development. We owe this to our coming generations," he added in the letter.
The Opposition leaders, on Saturday, had expressed "shock" at the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over communal incidents, saying that it proved that the alleged perpetrators enjoyed the patronage of the ruling government. The letter had made a joint appeal to the public to maintain peace and harmony amid violent clashes across several states.
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