Modi skirting ‘ real issue’: Cong

The main Opposition Congress party on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “skirted the real issue” in the wake of the Dadri lynching incident while appealing to Hindus and Muslims to work together to fight poverty.

“The Prime Minister has skirted the real issue. He has appealed to Hindus and Muslims to fight against poverty... By this statement, he has not condemned Dadri incident and those in BJP playing the communal card on the issue,” AICC spokesperson R. P. N. Singh said.

Asked about his reaction on the Prime Minister’s statement, Mr Singh said, “Why can’t the PM ask Hindus and Muslims to live in peace?” and deplore those MLAs, MPs, party ( BJP) office bearers and Union ministers who continue to spread communal venom.

While the PM is not disapproving the Dadri lynching, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav broke his silence on this issue saying it was a “pre- planned” conspiracy hatched by three persons of a particular party and that they were also behind the 2013 riots in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district.

While non- BJP chief ministers are maintaining silence on this issue and a debate on cow slaughter, eating beef, the return of Sahitiya Akademi Award by Ashok Vajpeyi and Nayantara Sahgal in the middle of the Bihar elections is not a good development for the government. The Congress said hardliners in the BJP cannot be checked as they are backed by the top.

The non- BJP chief ministers, especially Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik and Jayalalithaa, have not reacted strongly to the Dadri lynching yet. Although the CMs of the Congress and Left too are not vocal on this issue, their parties have taken a clear position on it.

Though Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has spoken about it, R. P. N. Singh views that the Samajwadi Party and the BJP are working in tandem in Uttar Pradesh thinking that the communal polarisation would ultimately help them in elections.

He also asked why hardliners in the BJP, including ministers and MPs, continue to raise polarising issues; is it not because they are backed by the top?

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Wednesday asked the Centre to take steps for curbing such incidents.