Jaitley's comment on Hindutva as an opportunistic tool invites ire from Congress

NEW DELHI: Union minister Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Arun Jaitley's reported comment that the BJP was using Hindutva as an opportunistic tool has exposed the real face of the party and demanded an apology from him.

The senior Congress leader also asked BJP veteran L K Advani and RSS to tell the nation "what they now think about Jaitley."

He said comment of a responsible leader of the opposition that the BJP was using Hindutva as an opportunistic tool is a "very, very serious issue."

"Congress has been saying that the BJP is misleading people. Now, they should apologise to them," Sibal told reporters here.

WikiLeaks cables, first accessed by 'The Hindu', had reported that Robert Blake, Charge at the US Embassy, had conveyed to his government, after a meeting with Jaitley on May 6, 2005, that "Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism 'will always be a talking point' for the BJP. However, he characterised this as an opportunistic issue."

Jaitley has, however, maintained that he had not used the word "opportunistic" while Congress attacked him saying those living in glass houses should not throw stones at others.

Sibal said that for making such comments, Jaitley should apologise to the people and explain why he had said so.

Recalling the communal violence in the country following Advani's Rath Yatra, which led to the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Sibal said these are all "politics of opportunism", which claimed hundreds of lives.

"This means they (BJP leaders) speak something and do something else," he said.

"For years, we have been saying about their politics of opportunism. Now, people should also know the real face of BJP," the Telecom Minister said.