E-Paper
Udaipur killing: Congress hits back at BJP, questions PM Modi’s ‘silence’
Asserting that the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan was fully aware of its “Rajdharma”, Congress media department chairman Pawan Khera said, “The Congress government is bound by the Constitution and every government should work within the ambit of the statute.”
A day after the gruesome killing of a tailor in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, the Congress on Wednesday reiterated speedy investigation and trials against the two murderers and questioned the Prime Minister’s “silence on the hatred in the society”.
Asserting that the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan was fully aware of its “Rajdharma”, Congress media department chairman Pawan Khera said, “The Congress government (in Rajasthan) is bound by the Constitution and every government should work within the ambit of the statute. The Congress government did that and the accused were arrested within six hours.”
Refuting allegations of appeasement towards a community, Khera said: “Religion, faith, caste or class will not be taken into account, only legal action will be taken against accused. We assure you that.”
Also Read | ‘Killed him like cowards’: Grief, rage shroud Udaipur after murder
Khera’s comment came soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that terror outfits are flourishing in Rajasthan due to the Congress government’s “appeasement policy towards one community”.
“The law and order situation in Rajasthan is completely bad. A dirty appeasement politics is being done there. The chief minister holds the home department portfolio. It means the police administration directly comes under his control. Despite that such appeasement is happening,” BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said on Wednesday.
Union minister Giriraj Singh also lashed out at the Congress, saying: “A rural proverb says: ‘if you plant acacia, how can you get mangoes?’ The politics of appeasement that prevailed in the country has reached such an extent that some people have gone to the court at night to knock on the doors of the court for terrorist Afzal Guru.”
Two men, identified as Mohammad Riyaz Akhtari and Gaus Mohammad, with a cleaver hacked Kanhaiya Lal to death in Udaipur city and posted videos online that said they are avenging an insult to Islam, triggering stray cases of violence in the Rajasthan city, a part of which was placed under curfew.
Citing that Gehlot called an all-party meeting on Wednesday to maintain peace and law and order after the Udaipur murder, the Congress questioned the silence of PM on reducing hatred. “Ashok ji has called an all-party meeting this evening (Wednesday). Have you ever heard that the Prime Minister has called an all-party meeting on hatred in this country? Going all over the world, talking about the world and coming back, why the silence in this matter?” Khera said.
A Congress leader said that the party’s high command was in touch with Gehlot even as the demand for his resignation gained momentum. The Congress, however, has no immediate plan to change the CM, the leader added.
