BJP pursuing politics of character assassination: Bahuguna

BJP pursuing politics of character assassination: Bahuguna

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Wednesday accused the BJP of indulging in politics of character assassination to mislead people, saying this did not augur well for democracy. "The BJP has used Anna Hazare for political gains and now social activist Arvind Kejriwal has entered politics but he will soon be lost in the political mela," he said.

"To mislead people, the BJP is pursuing politics of character assassination. But, this is not in the interest of democracy," said Bahuguna who is here to campaign for the Congress in the Himachal Pradesh assembly election. To a question, he said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could never become the Prime Minister as "he is pursuing a communal agenda".

Accusing the BJP of not allowing the Lokpal Bill to be passed in the Rajya Sabha, Bahuguna said it wanted this issue to remain alive. Referring to allegations against BJP president Nitin Gadkari, the Chief Minister said what should he say when his own people were speaking against him.

Slamming the BJP for opposing FDI in retail, he said the move would be beneficial for farmers and horticulturists of hill states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The FDI would also strengthen the rupee, he said. Bahuguna refuted the charge that the Congress-led UPA government was discriminating against the BJP-ruled states.

"This is a ploy of Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to deflect people's attention from dismal performance of his government," he said. Bahuguna said the state government had failed to prepare appropriate schemes to get more funds from the Centre.