Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday alleged that the Congress was worried about its vote bank even when a tailor was brutally killed in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, reported The Indian Express.
“They [the murderers] come on the pretext of getting clothes sewn and then cut the tailor’s neck without fear, and then proudly make the video go viral,” Modi said at an election rally in Chittorgarh. “And the Congress government is worried about the vote bank even in that.”
The tailor, Kanhaiya Lal, was killed on June 28 last year for purportedly sharing a social media post in support of suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma. She had made disparaging remarks about Prophet Muhammad during a television debate a month before.
The assailants, Ghouse Mohammed and Mohammed Riyaz Attari, were arrested by the Rajasthan Police on the day of the murder. A video showed both the men claiming responsibility for the crime as they brandished the cleavers used in the murder.
On Monday, Modi claimed that festivals cannot be peacefully celebrated in Rajasthan under the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government as residents do not know when riots will break out or a curfew would be imposed.
“Congress has created such an environment in Rajasthan where the common man is worried about life, the businessman is worried about business and the worker is worried about work,” he alleged. “This anti-development environment has to be changed. Be it rioters or criminals, only a BJP government can fix it, and it has been our track record.”
The prime minister also declared that maximum cases of crimes against women are reported from Rajasthan.
“I feel pain when atrocities take place against daughters anywhere in the country, but the Congress has made this a tradition,” he alleged, reported NDTV. “Is this why you voted for Congress?”
The prime minister also ruled out plans to announce the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate ahead of the polls. “Kamal [BJP’s lotus symbol] is our face, kamal is our candidate,” he added. “We will make kamal win.”
Rajasthan elections are scheduled to be held in or before November.
PM won’t speak about Manipur, Ujjain rape: Congress
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Modi, saying that he will not speak about Manipur and other places where atrocities have been committed.
“He will not mention Ujjain,” Ramesh said. “He will not act against his own party MP for atrocities on women wrestlers nor condemn Delhi Police’s atrocious treatment of our national champions. But when it comes to election campaigning, he will do what he does best lie brazenly.”
In Ujjain, a 12-year-old girl was raped and a CCTV footage showed her going door-to-door only partially clothed seeking help but to no avail. The wrestlers case refers to allegations of sexual harassment levelled by athletes against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is also a BJP MP.
“We would have thought that at least on Gandhi Jayanti the prime minister would spare the nation of his falsehoods, distortions and defamations,” Ramesh said on Monday.
He said that the Congress does not condone violence and the Rajasthan government pursues justice in all cases with urgency. “BJP governments do the opposite never accept responsibility or accountability,” he added. “That is the difference.”
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