The BJP on October 30 said that the Congress was “being driven by petty, vote-bank politics” over its stand on the Israel-Hamas conflict, noting that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s article, published in Monday’s edition of The Hindu, and demanded to know when last the Congress’ senior-most leader had written in the media on an international conflict.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi pointed to Ms. Gandhi’s article, where she said that she was strongly opposed to India’s abstention on the recent UN resolution that called for a humanitarian truce amid the unfolding crisis in Gaza following a massive retaliatory Israeli military attack.
Also read: Israel-Hamas war, Day 24 LIVE updates on October 30, 2023.
Government sources had said that the absence of any mention of the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists in the resolution was the reason for India’s abstention as there could be no equivocation on terror.
Hitting back at the Congress, Mr. Trivedi told a press conference that there “can be no politics on terrorism and international issues”.
“There should be no scope for ifs and buts on terrorism and India’s stand should be clear, categorical and unequivocal,” he said.
When was the last time the senior-most Congress leader had written on an international conflict, he asked.
Asserting that there has been no change in the government’s policy on the Palestine issue as India stands for the two-state solution through peaceful means, he said it was “sad that the Congress policy is not in line with India’s prestige and dignity but is inspired by petty vote-bank politics”. Even indirect support to terrorism is damaging to humanity and India’s security and interests, he said, criticising the Congress.
Mr. Trivedi pointed out that it was during the Rajiv Gandhi government that the ground had been laid for boosting diplomatic ties with Israel, before the P.V. Narasimha Rao-led dispensation had established full diplomatic relations between the two countries.
As the then Leader of the Opposition, the late Atal Bihar Vajpayee had travelled to the UN to articulate India’s stand on a host of issues, and spoke in one voice with the then government headed by Mr. Rao, Mr. Trivedi noted.
