"Congress in deep depression after first two phases": BJP chief JP Nadda

Shivamogga (Karnataka) [India], April 30 : The Congress party is in "deep depression" after witnessing trends of overwhelming support for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections, said party's national president JP Nadda on Tuesday, adding that Opposition has thus decided to mislead people and practice politics that divides society.
"People are supporting PM Modi and have decided that under him, the country will move forward. We (BJP) got this indication from the first two phases of the election. This has rattled the Opposition. Hence, they are moving forward with their strategy of misleading people. They are now in deep depression and practising politics that divides society," Nadda said speaking to ANI on Tuesday at Shivamogga.
On his party's prospects in the ongoing polls, the BJP president said that they are confident of achieving their target of crossing 400 seats.
"Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance are going ahead with a comfortable majority, crossing 400 seats. This is clear because people have confidence in the way PM Modi has led the country," Nadda said.
Hitting out at the Congress for allegedly stating in their manifesto that they will be redistributing wealth to minorities when they come to power at the Centre, Nadda said that the party is going against the founder of the Constitution, who categorically mentioned that reservations should not be given on religious grounds.
"Their manifesto speaks of their hidden agenda - of what they did in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Bhimrao Ambedkar had said that the Constitution cannot provide for reservations on religious grounds," Nadda said.
The senior BJP leader pointed out that while the Congress tried to bring about reservations for minorities in Andhra Pradesh but could not be successful, in Karnataka they took away reservations meant for OBCs and gave them to Muslims.
"In Andhra Pradesh, they tried this four times and tried to take away reservations for SC, ST and OBCs. In Karnataka, they took away reservations meant for OBCs and gave them to Muslims. In Andhra Pradesh, they could not be successful because of court restrictions but their intention was clear," Nadda said.
The BJP chief also mentioned that the Congress does not think about the welfare of Muslims but only wants to practice appeasement politics.
"For Congress, minorities means Muslim minorities. They do not think of their welfare. With separatist attitudes and divisive forces, they are practising appeasement politics," Nadda said.
Shivamogga is going to the polls on May 7. BJP's BY Raghavendra, son of former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, has been pitted against Congress' Geetha Shivarajkumar.