Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Union minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday accused the Congress of "inventing" fake issues, such as corruption allegations in Rafale deal with France, to target the Narendra Modi government at Centre.also said that in the absence of no real issue, the grand old party is redefining secularism as a euphemism for majority bashing and in the process antagonising the majority against itself.In a Facebook blog, the BJP leader said that the Congress has adopted a two-fold strategy to target the Modi government.The Congress party, Jaitley said, has, like in the past, resorted to manufacturing the issue of Rafale deal as it has failed to conjure credible issues to target the government.The Union minister was referring to allegations leveled by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi during the no-confidence debate in Lok Sabha last week. Rahul had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "misleading" the nation over the Rafale fighter jet deals signed with the French government."The UPA Ministers also never disclosed the cost breakup of the weaponry because that is not in larger national interest," the minister responded to charges that the government purchased the jets on an inflated price."The supplier/ OEM manufacturers of defence equipment appoint their own offset manufacturers. The Government has nothing to do with it. The truth always holds together. It is a falsehood that falls apart," the minister wrote in his blog.India had signed an inter-governmental pact with France in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale jets. The delivery of the jets is scheduled to begin from September 2019.The minister further claimed that the Congress party is "non-existent" in several states which amount to nearly 50% of the Lok Sabha seats, hence it is being forced to play the role of a second fiddle to regional political parties in many states."If the first part of the Congress Mukt Bharat was scripted by the BJP, the federal front is more than eager to script the part-2 of the same. Its message to the Congress is clear – ‘you will have to support us; the other way is not possible.’The BJP leader said that the Congress, by "comparing Hindus with Taliban" and using phrases such as "Hindu Pakistan", is attempting to reclaim the minority vote from the federal front."Comparison of Hindus with ‘Taliban’ and phrases such as ‘Hindu Pakistan’ is intended to help it against the federal front to reclaim the minority vote. This strategy also is likely to backfire. As equal participants in the Indian electoral process, the minorities have a constitutional right of a vote. But so does the majority," he wrote.Jaitley also recalled that while there was an outrage in the country over Congress and its leadership over the Bofors issue in 1989, the party strategists invented a counter strategy of diversion by creating a fake issue."A bank account in St. Kitts was created in the name of Shri V P Singh's son so that the Congress could now have a face saving argument - if we are corrupt, so are you," Jaitley said.The blog mentions that against the backdrop of the Kargil war, Congress manufactured an issue of sugar export to Pakistan and held two dozen press conferences to question Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government's commitment to nationalism.