New Delhi, Sep 10 (Agency) BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Friday took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his concern for Kashmiri Pandits and said their woes were because of the “politics of appeasement” of the Congress party and its allies. “Congress for its petty vote bank politics sacrificed not only the Kashmiri Pandits but also the development of Kashmir. There was a time when on behest of the Nehru-Gandhi family the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh even hugged separatist leaders. The problems of Jammu and Kashmir are the legacy of the Gandhi family,” Patra said while reacting to the Gandhi scion’s remark in Jammu that he too was a Kashmiri Pandit and was pained by the plight of Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiris.
Referring to the abrogation of Article 370, the BJP spokesperson said, “Congress leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary had then said that it being a bilateral affair should not be discussed without the mandate of Pakistan. This is the real nature of the Congress party … shedding crocodile tears while during its tenure Kashmir was destroyed.’ On Rahul Gandhi’s Vaishno Devi Shrine visit, the BJP leader accused him of playing with the sentiments of people and demanded apology. “Rahul Gandhi after visiting the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine played with the sentiments of the Hindus as well, by saying that the powers of Goddess Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi have decreased after Narendra Modi ji came to power. He also said the ‘hand’ of Congress is the hand of Wahe Guru. This indeed is hurting the sentiments of millions of Sikhs and Hindus across the world. He should apologise for this,” Patra said. The BJP leader claimed that under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kashmir is moving in the direction of development and inclusiveness.