The Congress today ‘‘strongly’’ protested against the reference to the Gujarat elections in Parliament address of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. ‘‘We lodge our strong protest and serious objections to the manner in which the President’s address contained reference to highly controversial and partisan elections in Gujarat,’’ Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy said today.Alleging that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had run an election campaign in the state in ‘‘total contravention’’ of the Constitution, Reddy said: ‘‘The BJP leadership in Gujarat has set an absolutely new and unfortunate norm of electioneering. The reference to the result as victory to democracy is an insult to the intelligence of political observers of the country.’’Reddy also said that as ‘‘the President has no freedom in the matter’’, the Congress was not finding fault with the President but is blaming the Government. ‘‘The President had paid a visit to Gujarat which indicates his concern for the poisonous climate created there,’’ he said.
