Paswan tells Cong shed your ‘Godhra obsession’

Paswan had quit the Vajpayee-led NDA regime in 2002 in protest over Gujarat riots.

Let the wheel of time move forward,” Paswan said.

It was Ramvilas Paswan, who in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, had reposed faith in Sonia Gandhi to stitch a three-party alliance with the RJD in Bihar before siding with the BJP. On the first day of official business in the 16th Lok Sabha Tuesday, he surprised many, including the Congress president, with his speech during the motion of thanks to the Presidential address.

Asking the Congress ranks to shed their “communal, secular” discourse, the LJP chief exhorted them to dump their “Godhra” obsession and move on to trust the Narendra Modi government’s assurance to secure minorities in the country.

“How long are you going to chant Godhra, Godhra, Godhra. It has been an era in 12 years. We went to jails during the Emergency, haven’t we forgotten it? We have forgotten anti-Sikh riots, riots in Bhagalpur. When we can forget all that, why not Godhra? Let the wheel of time move forward,” Paswan said in an apparent attempt to pre-empt any Opposition charge against the Prime Minister.

Story continues below this ad

Paswan had quit the Vajpayee-led NDA regime in 2002 in protest over Gujarat riots.

“Even child was chanting NaMo NaMo (during the election campaign). The reason for it was that when Narendra Modi said ‘eradicate poverty’, you said remove Modi. When he called for eliminating corruption, you called for removing Modi,” Paswan said.

He said Modi’s name got votes for the NDA. “You may not have got votes in the name of Sonia Gandhi, but we got votes in the name of Modi,” he said. “Ask Sonia why she brought Rahul Gandhi. You feel pain when a Dalit Paswan brings his son to Parliament, but does not feel the same for Sonia and her son or Mulayam Singh Yadav’s kin.”

Sonia, sitting in the front row, kept quiet.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram