Congress, BJP spar over scribe’s murder

Indrajit Lankesh is on record having said publicly that his sister was working actively to ensure surrender of Naxalites... so was she doing it with consent and approval of state government... and if so, why was she not provided security?

NEW DELHI: The blame game between the Congress and the BJP over the killing of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh continued on Friday.

While the main opposition party questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue, the ruling side accused the Karnataka government of “failure” in providing adequate security to Lankesh.

Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also demanded proof from the BJP for the allegations that the journalist was a supporter of Maoists. He asked why the Prime Minister was still following on Twitter those who had “justified and celebrated” the killing of Lankesh.

For his part, senior BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned the “malafide” comments on the “regrettable and unfortunate” killing of the journalist-activist.

Displaying copies of news reports of Lankesh’s brother Indrajit Lankesh, claiming that she had worked for the surrender of Maoists, Prasad asked why the Siddaramaiah government had not provided her adequate secu- rity. “Indrajit Lankesh is on record having said publicly that his sister was working actively to ensure the surrender of Naxalites...so was she doing it with consent and approval of the state government... and if so, why was she not provided adequate security?” he asked at a press conference.

Taking on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Prasad said he had already blamed RSS’ wing groups for killing the journalist.

“How then can a fair probe be expected from the Congress government in Karnataka?” he asked.