New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Congress, accusing its top leadership of being "completely directionless" and asserting that this was the primary reason behind the party's repeated electoral defeats across the country. Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Chouhan said, "For several years, Congress has been continuously attacking constitutional institutions. Now, it has stooped to a point where putting the blame on constitutional institutions for election defeats has become a pattern." "Losing elections one after another and then taking out protests has become the fate of the Congress... The reason for the repeated election defeats is not the Election Commission, but the directionless leadership of Congress itself," Chouhan said, pointing to alleged internal differences in the party's Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Karnataka divisions.

The Union Minister further claimed that the Congress had been politically marginalised in several major states for a considerable period, citing Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as examples. "Except for three or four states, Congress has been reduced to a junior partner in every other state," he said. Chouhan also accused the Congress of targeting constitutional institutions for political gain. "Congress cannot win the country over by attacking constitutional institutions simply for the sake of holding onto power," he added. In a further attack, Chouhan alleged that the Congress routinely criticised institutions whenever their decisions or actions went against the party's interests.

"Congress is in such a state that when a court verdict goes against it, it attacks the court. When it loses an election, it attacks the Election Commission. When the Army eliminates terrorists, it attacks the Army. Congress has found it impossible to digest India's progress and the trust of the country's 1.40 crore people. That is why I say, with great anguish, that Congress is now joining hands with forces seeking to divide the country," Chouhan said, reiterating that the party's top leadership was "completely directionless". Chouhan also took aim at remarks comparing the Congress to Lord Shiva's wedding procession, and said, "Just now, they were saying that Congress is like Lord Shiva's wedding procession. They are talking about Lord Shiva's procession while opposing Lord Ram. This is not Lord Shiva's wedding procession; it is a group of troublemakers spreading chaos and trying to create disorder on the streets," he said.

The Agriculture Minister also alleged that the Congress and the INDIA bloc were influenced by foreign powers and accused them of associating with groups and individuals whom he described as being opposed to India's interests. "Congress and the INDIA bloc have now become puppets in the hands of foreign powers. For the sake of power, they sometimes rely on the Left, sometimes on cockroaches, sometimes on anti-national forces like George Soros, and sometimes on NGOs," he added.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi's earlier statements, Chouhan said, "Rahul Gandhi had once said that his fight is against the 'Indian state itself'; what does this mean, Rahul Gandhi? This shows how low Congress and Rahul have stooped." The remarks came amid the Congress-led INDIA bloc's march towards the Supreme Court, seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Opposition leaders have alleged irregularities in the revision exercise and raised concerns over the electoral rolls, while the BJP has defended the process and accused the Congress of politicising the issue.

--IANS