In a veiled criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, BJP veteran L.K. Advani on Thursday said his party never viewed those who disagreed with it politically as “anti-national” but only as “adversaries”.
“The essence of Indian democracy is respect for diversity and freedom of expression,” Advani said in his blog post, writing after a gap of four years.
“Right from its inception, the BJP has never regarded those who disagree with us politically as our ‘enemies’, but only as our adversaries.
“Similarly, in our conception of Indian nationalism, we have never regarded those who disagree with us politically as ‘anti-national’.