Mangaluru :  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been politicising the Pulwama attack and the subsequent air strikes in Pakistan to divert public attention from the Rafale scam and failures of the Union government on all fronts said, senior Congress leader V.R. Sudarshan on Saturday.

He was speaking to reporters after releasing a 16-page booklet, Brahmanda Rafale Bhrashtachara, brought out by Ivan D’Souza, MLC, to be distributed among households in the district here.

Mr. Sudarshan said the Congress need not learn lessons of patriotism from the BJP as it has a strong legacy of nationalism.

The party, which has failed to build the Ram Mandir even after 27 years, is attempting to divide people on communal lines to mask its failures, he said. Why should the BJP remember Ram Mandir only during the poll time, Mr. Sudarshan asked.

Terming the Rafale scam as the biggest scam in the history of independent India, Mr. Sudarshan said the government was not transparent and hesitated to constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe into the issue.

Mr. Sudarshan noted that the Lok Sabha elections after Emergency were fought on issues, such as political stability, Indira Gandhi’s contribution and her assassination, Bofors, Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and the alleged corruption during the tenure of the UPA that was blown out of proportion.

Similarly, the 2019 polls are also being fought on the issue of corruption of the Union government, Mr. Sudarshan noted. The BJP, he said, had opposed many progressive measures of the UPA, including the GST and the Aadhaar, while as Opposition; but embraced the same after coming to power.

Mr. D’Souza said besides the booklet, the party has also brought a questionnaire challenging the BJP to an open discussion. The booklets would be distributed among people in the district.