Jaipur, May 29 (PTI) In an ironic reprisal, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) chief Hanuman Beniwal for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, but was in turn chastised over a minister allegedly rebuking policemen in Chittorgarh district.
On Thursday, BJP state president Madan Rathore and several other party leaders lashed out at Beniwal for allegedly referring to Sharma as “moorkhadhiraj” at a protest march the previous night.
On the other hand, Minister of State for Cooperation Gautam Kumar Dak was booked at Chittorgarh’s Dungla Police Station for allegedly abusing and threatening policemen.
Nagaur MP Beniwal was addressing a protest rally against land acquisition for industrial purposes in Bhairana Dham near Jaipur, where he called the chief minister “Moorkhadhiraj” or “King of fools.” Rathore responded by saying political opposition was natural in a democracy, but public representatives must maintain dignity in speech and conduct.
However, within hours, the party was forced to go on the defensive when an FIR was filed against minister Dak over allegations of abusing and threatening policemen.
According to the FIR filed by Station House Officer Shaitan Singh, the incident took place on Monday, when he, Singh, was at the police station and received a phone call from the minister asking him to come outside.
The SHO claimed that the minister asked him about two constables, Vishnu Kumar and Laxminarayan, and demanded that they be called before him. When the constables came, the minister allegedly started abusing them and used objectionable language in front of the public.
Dak denied the allegations and said he had no connection with the audio clip circulating on social media.
On Friday, Beniwal accused the ruling party of double standards on political decorum.
“BJP leaders have no moral right to lecture others on public conduct when leaders within their own party had allegedly used objectionable language in public life,” he said.
Beniwal accused Rathore of speaking rudely to female party office-bearers during a protest recently.
He also targeted Education Minister Madan Dilawar over his past remarks against teachers.
“The education minister has called teachers fools in the past,” he said.
On an audio of Dak going viral in which he is purportedly heard abusing policemen, Beniwal said that the language reflected the “culture” of BJP.
“BJP leaders lecture others but forget the conduct of their own people who hold responsible posts,” he said. PTI SDA VN VN
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