New Delhi: Congress on January 22 charged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with playing a "huge political fraud" by planning to revive issues like Ayodhya in the coming Assembly polls, "reducing the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) partners to political captives" and declared that it would confront the "communal menace" head- on.

"We have all along sounded the red alerts about the treacherous tactics of BJP. We are absolutely confident about frustrating the fissiparous designs of BJP at the hustings," party spokesman S Jaipal Reddy said in a statement.

Taking a dig at the allies of the BJP, he said, "The Congress has, therefore, no illusions either about their will or capacity to resist the BJP's brazen betrayal."

Reacting to BJP's statement that the Ram temple issue, Uniform Civil Code and abrogation of Article 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir would continue to be on the party's agenda for the elections, he said that it showed the ruling party has "gone back" on its poll promises.

Recalling that BJP's leading lights Atal Behari Vajpayee and L K Advani had repeatedly assured the nation that they would strictly be governed by the NDA's agenda, he said the NDA partners have since been "reduced to the status of political captives on account of their ideology-free and region-specific politics".

Reddy said the BJP could become the ruling party in the country as a member of the NDA only after abandoning the contentious agenda.

PTI