Jaipur, Apr 5 (PTI) Asserting that the Karauli violence was planned, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Rajendra Rathore said on Tuesday that the sudden attack on the procession to mark the Hindu new year shows the failure of the state police.
Talking to reporters, Rathore claimed that hundreds of stones were collected a day before the bike rally on April 2 in Karauli.
The BJP leader said that police did not conduct a drone survey before the rally as the procession was suddenly attacked from the roofs and participants were also beaten up with sticks.
On Monday, a fact finding team of the BJP also visited Karauli, which will submit its report in three days.
Rathore, who was part of the team, said the BJP is determined that it will not allow people to be crushed in the politics of appeasement.
He said that the BJP will provide audio and video clippings of the incident to the administration, after which many faces will be exposed.
Referring to a letter from the Popular Front of India (PFI), Rathore said the state president of the Islamic fundamentalist organisation wrote a letter to the chief minister on April 1 warning of a tension in the state from April 2 to April 4, but the state government did not take any cognizance.
Meanwhile, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje targeted Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over the Karauli violence, saying that he keeps making false allegations against the top BJP leaders every day in order to divert the attention of the public from the failures of his government.
Raje referred to Gehlot’s remarks on the recent visit of BJP national president JP Nadda to Sawai Madhopur.
Gehlot had said on Monday, “They come to set fire. They are setting the whole country on fire… He came and fire erupted. They are creating such an atmosphere. They do not believe in democracy and have created a Hindu-Muslim divide.” In a statement, the BJP national vice-president said that what happened in Karauli was not hidden from the chief minister.
The chief minister should also think that such incidents of clashes are not happening in BJP ruled states because there is a rule of law.
Communal clashes broke out in Karauli on April 2 after stones were pelted at a motorcycle rally taken out to celebrate the Hindu new year. Around two dozen people were injured in the violence while 30 others were detained.
The incident took place when the rally to mark Nav Samvatsar was passing through a Muslim-dominated area. A few shops and a bike were also burnt in the violence. PTI AG AG KVK KVK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.