No saffron or red terrorism, says Shinde
Former Home Minister and ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hardworking but his inability to come out of his party’s ideology has prevented him from attaining a bigger stature.
His made the remarks during a podcast interview. Shinde, whose biography written by journalist Rashid Kidwai came out last month, while responding to the controversial “saffron terrorism”, said, “Whatever came on record was conveyed at a party platform... However, I think that it (the term) should not have been used. There is no such terrorism (referring to saffron terrorism). That is the party’s ideology. There is no saffron or red terrorism.”
Shinde further said he had used the term at a party platform and never in public. “There is nothing wrong in briefing the party about what is going on,” he said.
On being asked what was the major factor which made Modi the PM and whether the Congress had ever thought that he (Modi) would go on to become the PM for three consecutive terms, Shide said, “At that time we never felt like that. Both of us were general secretaries for Himachal Pradesh for our respective parties. We were also CMs (Shinde of Maharashtra and Modi of Gujarat). When I was Power Minister, he used to come and meet me for requirement of power for his state. He is quite hardworking, but his inability to come out of his party’s ideology has prevented him from attaining a bigger stature as a leader.”
On the recent Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Shinde said, “Even after this (abrogation of Article 370) if a government (of the NC-Congress alliance) comes to power, then it means that people want Article 370 to remain.”
At the same time, he added that one should wait and watch before taking any decision on restoring it. “One should wait for a year or two before taking a call on it,” he said. On his comment that he was nervous while visiting J&K as Home Minister (which he made while speaking on the occasion of his biography’s launch), Shinde quipped that he had made the remark jokingly.
“The BJP amplified my comments, which were made in a lighter vein. People welcomed me in Srinagar and were happy that as Home Minister, I had visited them,” the veteran Congress leader said.
To a question on the BJP’s allegation that Congress plays the minority card, Shinde said, “The BJP peddles the Hindutva narrative, but India is a secular country which follows the Sarva Dharma Sambhav principle. For a brief period, a religion-centric narrative may run, but ultimately the principles of secularism govern this country.”
