Hyderabad: Claiming that political fortunes of Congress were on the decline as reflected by the drubbing it faced in recent by-polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on October 9 predicted a similar fate for the party in the coming round of Assembly polls to four key states.

"Congress is nervous and helpless and is facing the worst dilemma," the BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.

Stating that Congress was relegated to third position in four states in the recent by-elections, he said, "In Chhattisgarh, it is facing the worst situation where it is projecting a tainted person as Chief Minister, who has fallen victim of his own misdeeds."

The BJP, he said, would approach the coming round of polls highlighting the "misdeeds and failures" of the Congress government there.

Accusing Congress of maintaining double-standards, Naidu questioned the party's defence of Jogi, who has been chargesheeted by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a forgery case, even while boycotting Defence Minister George Fernandes though no case had been filed against him nor was there any complaint against him.

He also took exception to Congress' charge that CBI was being misused for political vendetta and said, "It is a well-known fact that CBI was misused by successive Congress regimes in the past."

"The very fact that CBI is pursuing Ayodhya case against Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and senior leaders of BJP is a testimony for our commitment to rule of law and our non-interference in the functioning of CBI," Naidu said.

PTI