[Reader-list] ''Shiela Dikshit - Pramod Muthalik'' - Sangh Sangh !

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

Pub bashing BJP calls Cong conservative for the same
*Agencies <http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/agencies/>* Posted: Jan
29, 2009 at 1438 hrs IST

 *New Delhi:* Condemning the statement of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot against pub culture, BJP on Thursday accused the
Congress<http://www.indianexpress.com/special/congress,%20politics/>of
conservatism and of indulging in politics on such issues.

"Yesterday we saw the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot saying he
will close down all pubs and is against pub culture. BJP would like an
answer from the Congress on the issue and their stand as far as pubs are
concerned. It reflects the conservatism of the Congress party. It should
stop politics over this issue, apologise to BJP and make its stand clear,"
BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters.

The right-wing party, which has espoused the cause of Indian culture and
tradition in the past, sought to club Gehlot's statement with the Ram Sena
attack on women in a Mangalore pub on January 24.

Countering the Congress allegation that it had links with Ram Sena, BJP said
it was the Congress which was close to this organisation as its leaders had
shared the dais with Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik in Pune.

"The Congress party has always charged BJP of being conservative. And in a
similar way it has charged the BJP of involvement with Ram Sena though BJP
has condemned their actions. We would certainly like an answer about why
Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit was sharing the stage with Ram Sena
Chief in a program in Pune at the invitation of Congress leader Suresh
Kalmadi," Rudy said.