New Delhi, April 16 : BJP leader Sambit Patra on Saturday launched attack at Opposition leaders including Congress President Sonia Gandhi over an appeal issued by the Opposition urging people to maintain peace. “Today Sonia Gandhi, some comm st leaders, Farooq Abdullah have issued a joint appeal that one ideology is behind the deteriorating social harmony in the country,” Patra said. “It is the same ideology that has forced politics of appeasement on people of this country for 70 years. This is the same ideology which has divided the country in the name of religion and gave birth to vote bank politics,” he said. “They do selective politics. When Rajasthan burns… you don’t want to douse the fire, you want it to burn,” he said. Thirteen Opposition parties including Congress, NCP, TMC, DMK, CPIM, NC, RJD issued a joint appeal to people to maintain peace and social harmony and demanded stringent p shments for perpetrators of communal violence. The Opposition parties called upon their party ts across the country to independently and jointly work for maintaining peace and harmony. Opposition leaders also said they are “shocked” at the silence of the Prime Minister who has failed to speak against the words and actions of those who propagate bigotry and those who, by their words and actions, incite and provoke our society. The letter was signed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress Chairperson and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu CM and DMK president MK Stalin, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Chief Hemant Soren, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, Leader of Opposition – Bihar Assembly, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, General Secretary CPI D Raja, General Secretary All India Forward Bloc Debabrata Biswas, General Secretary Revolutionary Socialist Party Manoj Bhattacharya, General Secretary, IUML PK Kunhalikutty, and CPI-ML General Secretary Dipanker Bhattacharya. AO SHK2217
