BJP tarnishing India's secular image: Kharge at CWC meet

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is tarnishing India's "modern, progressive and secular" image by allowing the sectarian violence from Manipur to reach Haryana's Nuh, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

He also criticised the central government's key plans and said whenever the opposition questions the government on issues such as inflation and unemployment, it answers through new slogans.

Starting the two-day Congress working committee (CWC) meeting to get his party battle-ready for the upcoming elections, Kharge drew attention to "many serious internal challenges" that India faces today. "The whole world witnessed the heart-wrenching incidents of Manipur. Violence continues there even today from May 3. The Modi government allowed th fire in Manipur to reach Nuh in Haryana. Incidents of violence took place here, and communal tension spread in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi," he said.

"These incidents tarnish the image of modern, progressive and secular India. In such a situation, the ruling party, communal organisations and a section of the media add fuel to the fire. It has destroyed the secular fabric of our country but we have to come together to identify and expose such forces," he added.