No-one is safe from Congress witch-hunt as party resumes brutal tactics to discredit opponents




The witch-hunt against the political opponents of the Congress is becoming every bit as vicious as one would expect, with the party using every avenue available to it. The government stepped in, for instance, when Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde announced that the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) foreign funding would be investigated.



It is perhaps a sign that Arvind Kejriwal is getting more public support than the Congress had imagined he would. The pressure on AAP, therefore, is unlikely to let up, say sources.



With elections round the corner, the attacks are coming thick and fast. On Wednesday, the Congress approached the Election Commission targeting BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi over his remarks at a rally in Bahraich that the CBI and Indian Mujahideen were being given a free hand to settle scores with the Grand Old Party's opponents.



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The Congress legal department gave the transcript of Modi's speech to Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath. But that was only one part of it. The Election Commission move was systematic, the political equivalent of an ambush.



The Congress complained about Modi's "khooni panja" remark - which he used to describe the Congress election symbol of "hand" - at an election rally in Chhattisgarh. The BJP leader has now been given time till November 16 to explain this.

It is obvious that with Modi getting ever-larger crowds - senior Congressmen have acknowledged his growing influence - the allegations against him will get sharper. Union minister Kapil Sibal has already questioned the source of funds for the rallies organised for him. The attacks have not merely been about his political speeches and the post-Godhra riots but also personal allegations that he deserted his wife.



With Modi as the main opponent, the witch-hunt has started in right earnest. This is in line with the trademark vindictiveness the Congress has used against political opponents.



Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was caught in a disproportionate assets case, as were YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy and BSP supremo Mayawati.



When the CBI closed the disproportionate assets case against Mulayam Singh and his family earlier this year, critics were quick to point out how the withdrawal had coincided with the passage of the Food Security Bill in Parliament.



Jaganmohan Reddy, who left the Congress after being denied the chief minister's chair in the wake of his father YSR Reddy's death, was released recently after a 16-month stint in jail over DA charges.



His release, sources said, was planned with eyes on a pre-poll alliance with his party, a rising force in Andhra politics.

Congress-BJP 'model' battle hots up

By Mail Today in New Delhi

The Congress on Wednesday again moved the Election Commission (EC) against Narendra Modi, this time over his allegation that the Congress was using the CBI and terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) to further its campaign.



Modi had made the statement at a rally in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, on November 8, in an apparent reference to the series of bomb blasts allegedly organised by the IM at the venue of his public meeting in Patna, just ahead of his arrival, last month.



The complaint came on the same day the poll watchdog issued a notice to the BJP prime ministerial candidate for violating the model code of conduct with his 'khooni panja' (bloody hand) jibe at the Congress.



The EC on Wednesday asked Modi to explain by 5pm on Saturday why he shouldn't be penalised for the remarks made at a rally in poll-bound Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon earlier this month. The EC said if no reply is received within the prescribed time, it will be presumed that he has nothing to say and the commission will take appropriate action without any further reference to him.



Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, too, came in for censure from the EC over the aggressive "tone, tenor and content" of his speeches.



The BJP had approached the EC against Rahul over two of his speeches - made in October at Churu and Indore - wherein he had said Pakistan's ISI had been in touch with Muslim victims of the Muzaffarnagar riots and accused the BJP of practising the politics of hatred.

