JNU sedition crisis: Congress counters BJP's anti-national charge with 'sacrifice saga'

NEW DELHI: The Congress has launched a determined bid to frontload statements on the JNU crisis with Gandhi family sacrifices and demand for strong action against anti-India acts, in what is a cautious bid to shield itself from BJP's gameplan to trap it as siding with "anti-national" slogans.

Rahul's dyed in national colours act on Thursday -"nationalism is in my blood, I have seen my family sacrifice again and again and again for this nation" -pointed to a reworked strategy in view of the party decision against pausing the post-Kanhaiya Kumar pitch.

The reminder of the family's nationalism ties in with concerns in some quarters that aggressive association with JNU protests could rebound. BJP chief Amit Shah took little time after Rahul's visit to the campus to accuse him of siding with "anti-nationals", giving a peep into the saffron strategy . The row over "pro-Pakistananti-India" slogans is considered emotive and tricky, as it works on people at several levels. Average politics on emotional issues and its reception through mass media leaves little space for nuances of "free speech" and "some disaffected youth".

While concerns in Congress are attributed to contin uing paranoia of polarisation post-Modi, party functionaries are unsure of how it would pan out. The general view is that "we have to be alert".

Congress functionaries argue the party could not have ignored the "liberal cause" without losing face or leadership space in the opp sition, especially since the JNU crackdown fit into the party's long campaign against the Modi regime. In what appears a rejigged strategy , Congress has stepped up its assault on BJP but added caveats about "strong action against those who indulged in anti-India acts" and also the Gandhi family's sacrifices.

Crucially , Congress is putting Rohith Vemula on top of the attack since the suicide by a Dalit scholar, which attracted allegations of abetment against Union ministers, a BJP legislator and ABVP , is believed to have boomeranged on the saffron camp.