The Congress Thursday
condemned senior party leader Janardan Dwivedi's remarks allegedly
linking 'Indianness' to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory in the
Lok Sabha polls and indicated a possible action against him.
The
party, in a specially convened press meet in the morning, reacted to
Dwivedi's purported remarks that have been widely noticed in political
circles.
Dwivedi, however, later in the day clarified that he did not praise Modi and did not require lessons to understand 'Indianness'.
Reacting
over Dwivedi's comment, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) termed his
Indianness remark as "absolutely right", adding that the Congress party
was facing an "internal rift".
Congress general secretary Ajay
Maken, who heads the party's communications department, told media
persons that "the party strongly condemned the comparison of Modi with
Indianness".
Maken said the Congress follows principles of
Mahatama Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Kabir on "Indianness" and Modi is
not even close to it.
Saying that ideological stand of the
Congress on Indianness was far away from "what Dwivedi tried to define
yesterday (Wednesday)", Maken said 'Indianness' meant keeping all people
united.
"Under Modi's seven-month rule, there have been
incidents of riots in Trilokpuri and churches are being burnt, women are
being asked to produce more children, term like Ramzada is being used,"
he said, asking if this was the "Indianness" which Dwivedi was talking
about.
On disciplinary action against Dwivedi, Maken said the central leadership will decide on the issue soon.
Dwivedi
has been quoted as saying that Modi and the BJP has been "successful in
convincing people that from a social point of view they are closer to
Indian citizens".
He also reportedly said that in a way BJP's victory in the Lok Sabha polls was a "victory of Indianness".
Dwivedi,
who is also the party's general secretary and viewed to be
ideologically rooted in the Congress ethos, refuted having actually
praised Modi.
"It's senseless. I pity the understanding of the
people who said that I praised Modi," he said, addressing a conference
in his office after Congress leader Ajay Maken's press meet.
"Who
said that Modi was a symbol of Indianness? It's the Congress that has
been the symbol of Indianness," a visibly miffed Dwivedi said.
"What
I meant was Modi and the BJP have been successful in making people
believe that they are close to them and they represent the people," he
said.
Expressing surprise over "how people could go wrong",
Dwivedi said the Congress could not do what the BJP and its leaders like
Modi succeeded in doing.
"They (BJP and Modi) made people
believe that they were with them, the Congress could not do it and that
was our failure," Dwivedi said.
He said "people, including you,
me and everybody" have limitations in understanding things and some may
have "projected" it in their own way. "That's why the controversy
emerged."
"I know what 'Indianness' is all about...Look at my
first book, whom I made symbol of Indianness there. I don't need lessons
to understand 'Indianness'...I understand what it is," he said.
Union
minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman told media that Dwivedi was
absolutely right in his remarks and the debate over it reflected
internal rift in the Congress party.
"Dwivedi's statement
reflects internal rift within the Congress. He is absolutely right.
There has been no internal democracy in the party," the minister said.
"The
Modi government is doing well at various fronts. Over 10 crore accounts
have been opened under Pradhan Mantri JanDhan Yojana. The government
has been successful in controlling prices of essentials. Is this not
Indian-ness?," she asked.
Saying Dwivedi issued a clarification
only after the Congress exerted pressure on him, Sitharaman accused the
party of being in "denial mode" even after eight months of its defeat in
the parliamentary polls.
