New Delhi, June 13: The Congress Sunday criticised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for “dragging” Sonia Gandhi into the issue of Bhopal gas tragedy case, saying the BJP leader practiced “disruptive, divisive and a low level of politics”.
 “Narendra Modi has always practiced disruptive, divisive and a low level of politics and we reject his suggestions with contempt,” Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan told reporters when asked to react to Modi’s comments at a BJP rally in Patna.
 Attacking the Congress chief over her “silence” on the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict, Modi today asked her to explain who was the ‘Maut ka saudagar’ (merchant of death).
 Sonia Gandhi had during the campaign for the 2007 Gujarat Assembly polls called Modi a merchant of death for the 2002 riots in the state in the aftermath of the Godhra train carnage.
 “This is the brand of intellectually, morally and politically bankrupt politics which is being practiced by Narendra Modi. There is absolutely no moral right on Modi’s part for dragging in Sonia ji after 26 years of the Bhopal tragedy, when she was not in politics at the time he was talking about,” she said, adding the BJP itself had a lot of explaining to do on the issue.
 The Congress spokesperson said that Modi’s brand of politics had brought him to a stage when his own alliance partner, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, refused to share platform with him, and the Gujarat Chief Minister goes to the extent of placing false advertisements in newspapers.
 “The BJP itself has a great deal to answer regarding why they Bhopal gas tragedy. What has the BJP done in the last 26 years in Bhopal?” she said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST