BJP calls Gujarat relief poll stunt

The BJP wants the Election Commission to take note of relief package being given to Gujarat riot victims, saying the move was done with an eye on winning Muslim support in the Uttar Pradesh elections.

Reacting sharply to the Union Cabinet’s decision to give special relief package to Gujarat riot victims, the BJP wanted the Election Commission should take note, saying the move was done with an eye on winning Muslim support in the Uttar Pradesh elections.

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BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Babri and, now, the new riot package were aimed at stirring religious passions ahead of the elections.

The Cabinet had on Thursday approved Rs 3.5 lakh ex gratia, on lines of the 1984-riot relief package, to the next of kin of each of the 1,169 people killed in the Gujarat riots five years ago. "Why only Gujarat and why not the same package for victims of every communal violence that occurred after 1984? And why now and why not earlier?" Naqvi asked.

He said the UPA government had failed in its attempts to use the Banerjee committee report on Gujarat in the Bihar elections last year. "The Congress will meet the same fate in Uttar Pradesh elections as people see through these poll stunts."