Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday said that relationship with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul was not good.
"It is true that the relationship is not good. As far as I am concerned, the relationship is not good. I do not know about them," he said at an event organized by India Today group.
Shah maintained that BJP was on course to achieve its target of a "Congress-free India" and cited the election results in some states as example.
On the other hand, talking about the controversy surrounding Jawaharlal Nehru University, Shah maintained that it did not matter who raised pro-Afzal Guru slogans but the fact that an event of that nature was held was anti-national.
"We can tolerate any statement against the BJP leaders or the government, but not against the country," he said.
Shah added that he does not consider Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's visit to JNU during the students' protests as wrong but voiced reservations against the Congress vice president delivering a speech there accusing the Modi government of trying to suppress their freedom of expression.
"I am against this statement of Rahul Gandhi that some people want to suppress your freedom of expression," he said.
Referring to alleged anti-India slogans raised at the JNU during the Afzal Guru event, he said, "If there are voices like these, then they must be suppressed."
When asked about raising of anti-national slogans in places like Jammu and Kashmir, where the BJP had allied with PDP, he referred to the arrest of separatist leader Masarat Alam and said he would have never been arrested had BJP not been in power.
Alam was sent to jail even when PDP was in power in Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said when asked about PDP's alleged soft corner for Afzal Guru.
Responding to a number of questions on the controversy surrounding the issue of chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', Shah said that the particular slogan was in vogue even before RSS and the BJP came into picture.
"99 percent of people agree with the slogan. This debate is irrelevant. Those who do not want to chant this should be asked what is their problem with this slogan. We will convince the one per cent people, who do not want to chant it," Shah said but declined to answer how will the BJP go about it. "You leave it to us, how will we do it," he said.
When asked whether MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who said he would not raise the chant hailing 'Mother India' "even if a knife is put to my throat", is a traitor, he said," No one becomes a traitor due to just one thing" and added "we will have to consider all other things and then come to a conclusion".
The BJP chief also said there is no need to say 'Bharat Maata Ki Jai' under pressure from RSS or BJP.
"This slogan is being chanted much before RSS and BJP came to power," Shah said.
(With Agency inputs)
