india

Updated: Apr 05, 2019 23:08 IST

The Opposition on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of ignoring its founding-members and said a blog written by party veteran LK Advani a day earlier was a “stinging” criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah’s brand of “demeaning politics”.

In a blog post titled “Nation First, Party Next, Self Last”, the 91-year-old Advani said the BJP had “never regarded those who disagree with us politically as our enemies” and that the BJP’s concept of Indian nationalism never considered those who disagreed with it politically as “anti-national”.

“BJP talks of Hinduism. In Hinduism, guru is supreme. Who is Modi’s guru? Advani. Modi just kicked Advani out,” Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said at a rally in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur.

Advani was denied a ticket from Gandhinagar for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, in his blog post expressed “sincere gratitude” to the people of the city, from where he has been elected six times.

“Advani’s remarks in the blog reflected his anguish...For Modi and Shah, it is self first and country last,” Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said in Vijayawada.

The BJP on Friday said that the views expressed by Advani in his blog have always been its policy. “What Advani ji has said has been the BJP’s clear policy. We never considered (rivals) anti-nationals...,” senior party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters.