Congress questions 'silence' of Left, SP on communalism

NEW DELHI: Congress today latched on to Nitish Kumar's attack on Narendra Modi to target the Left and the Samajwadi Party, accusing them of being silent on the issue of communalism.

"Why those who have been in the habit of issuing certificates of secularism to others have turned mum when Nitish Kumar has started the debate on the issue of secularism," senior party leader Mohan Prakash told reporters.

Prakash, who is in charge of party affairs in Gujarat and Maharashtra, recalled that the Left parties and the Samajwadi Party have always projected themselves as those in the vanguard of defending secularism.

In this context, "the silence of these parties on the issue of secularism is strange", he said, adding that this was especially so because the issue has been the crucial one since all Lok Sabha elections from 1991.

Noting that "democracy and secularism are two sides of the same coin", he said, therefore, a debate on the issue is a must for a thriving democracy.