New Delhi, Feb 11 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said the Congress party feared defeat in the assembly elections that are taking place in Uttar Pradesh.

BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi here said recent comments made by Congress leaders reflected their desperation.

“Congress party members, by making baseless remarks, are tarnishing the image of their party beforehand as they are disillusioned and disheartened with the imminent defeat in the ongoing elections in the state. As far as elections are concerned, corruption and crime are the major issues in Uttar Pradesh. However the Congress party is trying to divert the attention of voters towards sensitive issues like communalism and casteism,” said Naqvi.

He further said that at present Muslim voters want assurances from the political fraternity that their interests would be protected and steps would be taken to ensure that they tread on the path of development.

“Today, the Muslims of this country do not require reservation, instead they need protection of their rights for development, growth, employment and education. Despite being in power for the last sixty years, at the Centre and in the states, the Congress has failed to address the real socio-economic and educational issues affecting the Muslims and they are trying to appease them by announcing that they would provide reservation to them,” said Naqvi.

Naqvi later said that it is essential to find out the truth behind the contradictory statements of Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Home Minister P Chidambaram over the Batla House fake encounter, which took place in 2008.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid had raked up the controversial Batla House encounter while on the campaign trail in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday, where he said Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, was in tears when she saw photographs of the incident.

Batla House encounter officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on September 19, 2008, against suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi.

Two suspected terrorists, Atif Amin and Mohamed Sajid, two other suspects Mohd Saif and Zeeshan were arrested, while one accused Ariz Khan managed to escape during the encounter.

Encounter specialist and Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action was killed in the encounter. (ANI)