NEW DELHI: The Congress will play up the ‘sacrifice’ card —citing the 1985 peace accords in Assam and Punjab and giving up power in Jammu and Kashmir in 2008—in a bid to counter the BJP’s attempts to polarise voters over communal and citizenship issues ahead of the 2019 national polls.
Sources said the strategy had been framed after an assessment that the BJP will present the NRC as a move against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam with an eye on Lok Sabha polls.
“Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi went ahead with peace accords in Assam and Punjab in 1985 even when his advisors cautioned him that the pacts could adversely impact the party’s electoral prospects,” a senior AICC functionary told Express.
“We work in national interest."
Party insiders said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, granting citizenship to Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, was another ploy by the BJP to play on the social divide in the coming months.
“On one side, the BJP seeks fake credit for NRC and on the other, the Modi government brings in the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, both of which are contrarian in spirit,” said a Congress leader.
As the battle over the NRC hots up, Congress insiders said they were aware that overdoing the issue could backfire in Assam. Accordingly, party leaders have been advised not to oppose NRC per se, but the ‘faulty process’ of the exercise.
“NRC was meant to reflect the aspirations of the Assamese people and not as a tool to divide society,” said a party strategist.
Contradiction in stand
Congress plans to highlight the contradiction in statements of Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah to expose the BJP.
While Singh said NRC process was monitored by SC, Shah said BJP was finishing a job Congress couldn’t finish.
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