Congress candidate from Chandigarh Manish Tewari on Monday took a dig at the BJP over its claims on nationalism and patriotism.

“No matter what they preach, when it comes to practice, they only practice fake nationalism and patriotism,” he remarked, while asserting that the BJP can never compete with Congress on patriotic and nationalistic credentials.

“Any parallels will be out of place,” he quipped, while pointing out the number of sacrifices made by the Congress for the country as compared to “zero” by the BJP.

During an informal interaction with mediapersons, on the sidelines of a meeting in Manimajra, Tewari, when asked to comment over BJP’s claims that the country’s stature had risen during the last 10 years, questioned, “What happened along the Line of Control in China?”

He observed that no government in independent India had been as timid and weak-kneed as the Modi-led BJP government while dealing with China. He pointed out China had occupied 26 patrolling points in the Indian-controlled territory.

The government of India, he added, instead of taking corrective and remedial measures had not only preferred silence, but even come to the defence of the Chinese with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself giving “clean chit to China” by saying that no intrusion had taken place and no Indian territory had been occupied.

The former Union minister said it was typical of the BJP that they preach something and practice something else. “Same is with their nationalism and patriotism,” he remarked while referring to the “weak and meek response” of the Modi government towards Chinese aggression and expansionist designs, the way it had built villages close to Arunachal Pradesh and renamed several places.

Titu joins Congress

Local BJP leader Baljit Singh Titu on Monday joined the Congress along with several supporters. He was inducted into the party by Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky in the presence of Tewari and other senior leaders.