Haryana CM meets BJP chief
NEW DELHI: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, after a meeting with BJP president Amit Shah said that all the reports on the violence post Ram Rahim verdict have been handed over to him and added that the situation in Punjab and Haryana is normal at the moment.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, after a meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, on Wednesday said that all the reports have been handed over to him and added that the situation in Punjab and Haryana is normal at the moment.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Khattar said that they have provided the BJP president with all the viable reports on the Ram Rahim violence that left 32 people dead after he was found guilty for raping two of his followers in 1999. Ram Rahim was convicted on charges of rape on August 25 by the Special CBI Court. The rape case was registered by the CBI in April 2002 against the self-styled god man after allegations of sexual exploitation of two women followers. The then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had received an anonymous letter from a Dera sadhvi that she was being raped by Ram Rahim.
Following Ram Rahim’s conviction on Friday, his followers went on a rampage in Haryana’s Panchkula and Sirsa, and Punjab, Haryana and their neighbouring states have, since, been on the edge.
“We have worked with restraint in this whole situation. Our main motive was to create peacefulness before and after the verdict, and that’s all we concentrated on,” Khattar said.
Khattar said that the environment is peaceful now and that there is nothing to be concerned about, adding, “We are still alert and are making sure that the law and order is maintained in the state.” “We have taken necessary actions and followed the court’s order. No one is above law, and everyone has to adhere to the laws,” Khattar said.
Khattar also ruled out any possibility of change of guard in the state as there were speculations that the top BJP leadership may replace him because it was unhappy with the way the Chief Minister handled the situation ahead of the court verdict in a rape case against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief. “There will be no change. There is nothing like this,” he responded when he was asked about possibility of change of guard in the state.
Khattar, a first-time MLA, was hand-picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah to lead the party government in Haryana.
On Monday, the sentence against rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was declared by a special CBI court. He has been sentenced to 20 years in prison as he was announced guilty of raping two women in a 2002 case.
“Honeypreet Insan appealed to CBI Court that she be allowed in Court and also inside the jail as a helper but jail authorities didn’t allow,” he added, while talking about convicted godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s adopted daughter.