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Congress on Thursday hailed Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal's tour of Gujarat contending that there is another voice in the country exposing the "deficiencies" and development "myth" of Narendra Modi.
"If the AAP, a voice other than the Congress has been showing the deficiencies of Gujarat, exposing hype and myth of Gujarat. We welcome that Kejriwal is going to villages of Gujarat. Kejriwal is doing a job that media should also be doing. If Kejriwal is going there and finding out the truth of Modi's claims, we completely welcome that," party spokesperson Shashi Tharoor told reporters at the All Indian Congress Committee meeting.
"If Kejriwal's antics have helped draw the attention, we welcome it. We welcome Indians being well-informed before casting their votes. We want the Indian voter to be aware of the reality," he said.
The party, however, condemned the clashes between the BJP and AAP workers on Wednesday saying it is a case of "politics of violence" countering the "forces of anarchy".
"It was a revelation to the nation about the kind of alternative politics that is being talked about," the Union minister said.
AAP workers had on Wednesday fought pitched battles with BJP activists outside the saffron party headquarters in Delhi and Lucknow hours after party leader Arvind Kejriwal was detained briefly in Gujarat.
Kejriwal, who set out on a four-day tour of Gujarat on Wednesday, alleged there is no evidence of "development" in the state as claimed by its chief minister and the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Modi, and people there are unhappy.
Tharoor seconded Kejriwal's claims saying the situation in Gujarat is "utterly condemnable".