The Bharatiya Janata party on Tuesday sought the ouster of the 'tottering' United Progressive Alliance government, accusing it of practicing divisive vote-bank politics by encouraging the conversion of Dalits to Islam and Christianity.
"The Sachar Commission's recommendations constitute the most divisive step ever initiated by the government of independent India," the political resolution at the party's National Council meeting stated, giving a call to the people to remove the Congress-led regime at the Centre.
Noting that "communal reservations and communal budgeting are a remedy worse than the problem being addressed", the resolution said the 15 per cent allocation in the plan expenditure on the basis of religion will set a divisive precedent in the country.
The brief discussion on the resolution was initiated by senior leader Arun Jaitley, who alleged, "Never in the history has the impact of the Central government been so negligible. Never has India witnessed such political ineffectiveness."
Observing that India needs an effective leader as it has suffered under an indecisive Prime Minister, the BJP's political resolution spoke of "extra-Constitutional centres of power which have no Parliamentary accountability" but did not name anyone. The resolution said that the Prime Minister is a "non-leader, he is at best only a Chief Executive Officer, executing the day-to-day governance on behalf of the extra-constitutional centres of power."
Noting that governance in India has always given primacy to the office of the Prime Minister, the resolution stated that it is clear the Prime Minister is not a factor in the country's politics.
The resolution also targeted the government on the issue of terrorism. "The UPA has converted India, a victim of terror, into a soft state. For the UPA, its vote-bank politics are more precious than the sovereignty of India." The resolution was adopted after a brief debate and acceptance of a few amendments, including one urging the Centre to bring an immediate bill in Parliament for carving out a separate state of Telangana, from Andhra Pradesh.
"The delay in executing the death sentence of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru by the Congress government is the best evidence of the preference of the government towards vote bank politics than national security," the resolution said. It further alleged, "Ineffective governance and weak leadership are the hallmarks of the UPA government, divisive vote bank politics its political strategy and indecision its recipe for survival. The victims of this political travesty are India and the Indians".
Attacking the Left parties, the resolution said they put on a facade of opposition to the India-United States nuclear deal but were unable to strike at the UPA when it persisted with the accord. The role of the Left parties, ever since the formation of the UPA government, has been dubious, the resolution said. It added that the Left started off with a clever strategy of wanting to influence government policies from inside and attempting to occupy the opposition space outside.
Jaitley said, "The Left has become a victim of its own cleverness. Its threats to the UPA proved empty". The resolution said the Left was always willing to proclaim but unwilling to strike. "Its hypocrisy was exposed. From the nuclear deal to the economic policies of the UPA, it repeatedly compromised its position," stated the resolution.
