Cong won freedom for country, BJP only talks about nationalism: Manish Tewari

Chandigarh, May 16 (PTI) Congress' Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat candidate Manish Tewari on Thursday said while his party's leaders have laid down their lives for the nation, the BJP indulges in 'jumlebaazi' (rhetorics) and only talks about nationalism.

The two-time MP, whose father Vishwanath Tewari was shot dead by militants during the period of terrorism in Punjab, challenged the BJP to cite even one instance where its leaders sacrificed their lives for the nation. "Shouting slogans like 'Bharatmata ki Jai' from a safe distance and making it actually happen are two different things," Tewari said and added that "the Congress believes in actually making 'Bharatmata' victorious as it did in 1971".

He was referring to the India-Pakistan war of 1971 when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister.

It was the Congress that won the freedom for the country and then integrated over 500 princely states into one nation, Tewari said during his padyatra at the Motor Market here.

"The BJP was not even born at that time," he said and added that "and it still has the audacity to question the Congress' contribution".

On BJP leaders claiming that India had emerged stronger under their party's tenure at the Centre, Tewari said, "Yes, verbally, but not practically. It had weakened actually." Tewari said the "guarantees" made in the Congress poll manifesto were aimed at public welfare.

He said the free ration given to poor families will be doubled once the INDIA bloc government takes over at the Centre after June 4. The Congress is part of the alliance of opposition parties.

He also announced that every poor family will receive Rs 8,500 a month directly in the bank account of the eldest woman member of the family.

Tewari said unlike the BJP's 'jumlebaazi', the Congress' governments in Telangana and Karnataka fulfilled their promises within days of coming to power.

Same will happen once an INDIA bloc government is formed at the Centre, he added.

Polling for the lone Chandigarh seat will take place on June 1. PTI CHS ANB ANB