What Congress called anti-Sikh riots was a massacre, Hardeep Puri said (File)
Union Minister for Urban Housing, Petroleum, and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said Congress is yet to apologise properly for Operation Bluestar at the Golden Temple - the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, even after 40 years.
Addressing the media on the occasion of the release of the BJP's "Chandigarh Manifesto", the Union Minister said Congress was responsible for the massacre of Sikhs after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.
Hardeep Puri said Congress had been calling it anti-Sikh riots. But it was a massacre and "not a riot because, in a riot, two sides are involved. In the massacre, only one community, i.e. Sikhs were targeted".
The Union Minister also ridiculed the Congress' promise of putting Rs 1 lakh in the bank accounts of a woman of every family.
"This will be a drain of around Rs 32 lakh crore and is practically impossible to implement. It was clear that the Congress was trying to push a false narrative. AAP's scheme of supplying 300 units of free electricity was also part of the same 'revdi' culture about which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had frequently spoken.
"PM Modi believes good governance is good politics," Mr Puri added.
The Union Minister also targeted Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal over the corruption charges.
Under PM Modi-led government, there has been a manifold increase in capital expenditure which in turn has led to a spurt in the economic growth rate of the country, he said, adding: "The Indian economy now occupies the fifth place in the world and will soon become the third largest economy in the world."
Hardeep Puri also said Chandigarh was among the top cities not just in India but in the world and must be represented in the Parliament by a person of the calibre of Sanjay Tandon, who was familiar with the city's ethos and problems.
Referring to a suggestion that India should open trade with Pakistan, Hardeep Puri said Pakistan had been using terrorism against India as an instrument of state policy.
"India has sent a clear message to Pakistan that it would not accept terrorism and that it would kill terrorists in their homes," he added.
Punjab will go to the polls for its 13 Parliamentary seats along with the lone Chandigarh seat on June 1.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)