The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday alleged that the prime accused of the Chhabra violence attended Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s Iftar party.
The state unit of the BJP has demanded an apology from the Chief Minister.
The BJP leader and leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan legislative Assembly Gulab Chand Kataria accused Gehlot of following vote bank politics by “inviting the accused in the violence”.
“Rajasthan Chief Minister held an Iftar party and to strengthen his vote bank, he invited prominent members of the Muslim community. The party was also attended by the key accused of the Chhabra violence whose photos have gone viral. It seems as if Ashok Gehlot has made up his mind to flare up communal tension in the state. Incidents from Karauli to Alwar, which involved the demolition of a temple, prove appeasement of the minority community for vote bank,” Kataria said.
“The Chief Minister should apologize to the people of the state. It is unfortunate for the state of Rajasthan,” he added.
Terming it as a “matter of concern”, Chhabra MLA Pratap Singh Singhvi demanded that there should be an investigation into the circumstances which led to the invitation to the Chhabra violence accused at the Gehlot residence, pointing out a breach in CM’s security.
“The main accused of Chhabra violence was present in Iftar party organised at Chief Minister’s residence. This is a matter of concern and should be investigated why was he allowed to enter Gehlot’s residence. This amounts to compromise of the Chief Minister’s security,” Singhvi said.
The BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya accused Gehlot of “sheltering rioters”.
Sharing the pictures of the Iftar party, Malviya tweeted: “Ashok Gehlot hosted an ‘official’ Iftar party on 23 April. In attendance was Asif Ansari, main accused of Chabbra riots, in which several homes and shops of Hindu’s were burnt down. The man who should have been in jail was enjoying CM’s hospitality! Sheltering rioters is secularism?”
In these pictures, the violence accused can be seen posing with Women and Child Development Minister Mamta Bhupesh and Water Resources Minister Mahesh Joshi.
On this, Joshi clarified, saying that “anyone can click a picture with me”.
“There were thousands of people gathered (in Iftar party at CM’s residence). We should move on from this issue. Anyone can click a picture with me, but if he is violating the law, he should be punished,” Joshi said.
Police have said that the accused was out on bail.
“We were not given the list of invitees for the Iftar party. Asif Ali was accused of the Chhabra violence but he was out on bail. We have no information about who invited him there,” said Kalyamnal Meena, Superintendent of Police, Baran.
Communal violence broke out in Baran’s Chabbra of Rajasthan over car parking incident last year.
An altercation had broken out between groups of people and a man was stabbed. This reportedly led to communal clashes in the area. (ANI)
