The dilution of Article 370 to divest Jammu and Kashmir of its special status is not an issue in Haryana, Congress State president Kumari Selja said on Sunday. The people had “seen through the BJP’s game” of diverting attention from real issues, she said.
A day before polling for the Assembly election, Ms. Selja said the Congress would form the next government, pointing to a “rapid change” on the ground in favour of the party. Asked whether the Congress had countered the BJP’s pitch of nationalism, Ms. Selja said there was nothing nationalistic about it, and it was a “political issue” for the BJP.
“Haryana’s people have seen through their [the BJP’s] game of diverting attention. They talked about Article 370 and the National Register of Citizens [NRC]. But, as of today, the BJP has not been able to change the narrative, to its will. It tried, but there are so many issues in Haryana. We raised those issues, and the people have responded…,” she said at a press conference here.
She said the BJP knew its weakness in the State, and from the very first day, “it tried to divert the attention of the people from real issues”.
“Be it the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] or other BJP leaders or the Haryana Chief Minister, they did not talk about even one issue because they knew that they were on the back foot,” she said.
“The people of Haryana said that ‘you should give your report and then ask for vote.’ They could not give a report and tried to divert attention continuously.”
Asked whether the Congress had countered the BJP’s pitch of nationalism, Ms. Selja said there was nothing nationalistic about it, and it was a “political issue” for the BJP.
“The people of Haryana have made up their minds and are not going to swallow this. ‘Kaath ki haandi baar baar nahi chadhti’ [people cannot be duped twice], you have done it once. People have seen through this game. [Article] 370 is not an issue in Haryana and when we got the feedback from the people, this was certainly not an issue,” she said.
PTI
