Congress counters BJP charges of hobnobbing with China

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Bhopal, June 28 (IANS) Former ministerial colleague Jitu Patwari has come forward to support former Chief Minister Kamal Nath after BJP national vice-president Prabhat Jha had called him a "Chinese agent".

"During his stint as the minister for commerce and industry in the UPA government, Kamal Nath had acted at the behest of China," Jha had said. Patwari said BJP has orchestrated a propaganda to divert people's attention from the Chinese challenges at the border.

"During the UPA rule, there were many agreements between the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India. Despite the availability of certain items in India, at least 250 such items were imported from China. There was lesser import duty on such items. From the money thus earned, the Congress and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation were given money, which is a crime. Only one person was responsible for all this -- the then Commerce Minister. All this is on record," Jha said.

Patwari hit back with some statistical ammunition, saying the average import from China during the UPA rule under Manmohan Singh's leadership was about $3,24,5000 per month. It has increased to about $96,16000 during Modi regime.

Patwari said the BJP and the Modi government owe an explanation on how China's trade with India suddenly increased three-fold in past six years and who is working as an agent of China. Patwari said BJP and the RSS were engaged in cultivating ties with the Communist Party of China in 2009 when they sent a team to China. In 2014 the BJP had sent a 13-member delegation to China to study the Communist party's organizational structure in Beijing and Guangzhou. BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav had been to China in 2009 and in 2014. Taking a dig at BJP leader Prabhat Jha, Patwari said that he should explain why did Narendra Modi visit China so many times as chief minister of Gujarat and then as Prime Minister.

The BJP has been systematically targeting the Congress ever since Rahul Gandhi questioned Modi over his statement that China had not made any incursions against India. BJP president JP Nadda had on Saturday alleged that China had funded Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

The MP unit of Congress also saw a fall out of the recent verbal war between the two national parties. PCC chief Kamal Nath asked state Congress treasurer Govind Goyal to quit. His resignation was promptly accepted on Saturday. Prabhat Jha had a dinner invitation from Goyal on Thursday and Jha hit out at Kamal Nath on Friday. Goyal is a close confidant of former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh.

--IANS

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