NEW DELHI, Aug 27: The BJP on Friday slammed the Congress leadership over its response to the controversial statements of Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu’s advisors, and made light of the decision of one of them to quit his position as something done under pressure.
BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni said that neither Sidhu nor former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has rejected the statements of these advisors.
No apology has been tendered as well, he said and alleged that even Sidhu had in the past made comments that praised Pakistan and its prime minister Imran Khan.
It has become a practice with Congress leaders to make such comments that go against the national interests, and then to take some damage-control measures for form’s sake under media pressure, the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Sidhu’s advisor Malvinder Singh Mali, in the eye of the storm for his comments on Kashmir, quit the post earlier in the day.
His remarks that “Kashmir is a country of the Kashmiri people” and also on Article 370 had not only drawn fire from the opposition but also several Congress leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
“The Congress decision to have Sidhu’s advisor removed has been merely done due to pressure. Sidhu has also spoken in the past on similar lines. Even Rahul Gandhi had made comments that have been supportive to countries like Pakistan. The fact remains that Sidhu or Gandhi has not rejected the advisor’s comments. No apology has been tendered,” Baluni said. (PTI)