The BJP-Congress war of words over Uma Bharati’s impending arrest intensified today with the latter saying the saffron party was mixing up patriotism and violence. As BJP disrupted Parliament and Bharati geared herself for the Tiranga Yatra, the Congress said the BJP is trying to give a ‘‘patriotic twist’’ to what was essentially a case of violence.Party spokesman Anand Sharma made light of the Tiranga Yatra, saying the RSS and its outfits had played no role in the freedom struggle. ‘‘Even today, the national flag is not hoisted at the RSS headquarters at Nagpur,’’ he said. ‘‘When the Jallianwala Bagh incident took place, they were nowhere.’’ The Sangh Parivar, he said, could not claim a monopoly to patriotism.The Congress spokesman said the case in which Bharati had been declared a proclaimed offender by a Karnataka court has nothing to do with the unfurling of the national flag at the Hubli Idgah. It relates to the violation of curfew and the subsequent riots in which five persons were killed. Bharati is trying to ‘‘don the mantle of a martyr’’ by turning the case against her in to a controversy over the hoisting of the national flag, he said. On her resignation as MP Chief Minister, he said, it is no favour to the Congress. Her own position has become untenable and propriety demanded that she quit, he added.Sharma said the BJP was aware of the case against her when it decided to install her as chief minister. He recalled that the court had issued non-bailable warrants against her 18 times between December 2001 and March 2004. However, she did not respond. He, however, brushed off Bharati’s demands, saying the ‘‘tainted’’ ministers were not proclaimed offenders unlike her.
