New Delhi: Facing flak for inviting Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP) chief Chaudhary Lal Singh to join the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress is rethinking his participation, ThePrint has learnt.
Singh, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister in the Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, was forced to resign from the party for allegedly supporting the accused in the Kathua rape and murder case of 2018.
The re-examination of the invitation comes after J&K National Conference leader Omar Abdullah questioned the Congress’ move, saying the yatra must not become an opportunity for leaders to “whitewash” themselves.
“Congress has to see whether some people are joining the yatra to whitewash themselves. We haven’t forgotten those leaders who tried to save the rapists and throw allegations at the victims. It is wrong that these leaders will use this yatra to show themselves as secular,” said Omar Abdullah in Srinagar Wednesday.
In 2018, Singh had participated in a rally organised by the Hindu Ekta Manch in support of the alleged perpetrators of the rape and murder of an eight-year-old Bakarwal girl in Kathua. Singh, who had denied his support for the rapists at the time, later said he was merely demanding a CBI probe in the case.
Singh, who was once a Congress MP, had quit the party to join the BJP shortly after the 2014 Lok Sabha election. After he was ousted from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and BJP coalition government in 2018, and sidelined within the party, he quit the BJP and floated the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP).
Last year, DSSP’s Rajinder Singh Bubby — also Singh’s brother — fought and won the Kathua Municipal Council elections as an independent candidate, wresting control of the civic body from the BJP. He bagged the majority in the 21-member council in the elections necessitated after the incumbent chairman resigned.
Speaking to ThePrint, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera neither confirmed nor denied Singh’s participation in the yatra. “We will see. We have read all statements and are looking into the same,” he said.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) Jammu & Kashmir in-charge Rajani Patil told ThePrint, “We will carry our own yatra. Bharat Jodo Yatra is our Programme. We don’t know if he is coming or not.”
However, Congress sources involved with coordination for the Bharat Jodo Yatra in J&K told ThePrint that Singh’s attendance in the yatra is “under consideration”.
The issue first drew criticism from Deepika Pushkar Nath Congress spokesperson in J&K and also the lawyer appearing for the Kathua rape victim at the time. Nath, thereafter, resigned from the party Tuesday.
Speaking in Kathua last week, Singh had announced that his party and its workers will welcome Rahul Gandhi’s yatra as it enters Kathua.
“All parties were approached. Our party, our people were also approached. They told us to participate in their yatra,” he said. “We should all try to unite Bharat. Whichever party gives the slogan of Bharat Jodo, it is in favour of India and not against it. Our Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party has a clear vision (of) betterment of Dogras and the country.”
Speaking on the issue, former J&K Chief Minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar Wednesday said, “Congress party has struggled to not just free India but to make it a secular and democratic country, which the BJP is trying to destroy. So, Rahul Gandhi has come out and thousands are joining him. He is trying to reunite the fabric of the country. So, who joins him doesn’t matter. What matters is the purpose of the yatra.”
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Ex-Congress MP, sacked BJP minister
Singh started his political career as a youth leader with the Congress and was first elected as an MLA from the Basohli constituency in J&K in 1996 and 2002. He was then inducted as Minister for Health and medical education in the Congress-PDP government (2002-2004). Thereafter, he was elected to Lok Sabha twice in 2004 and 2009 on a Congress ticket.
He parted ways with the Congress in 2014 after being denied a ticket, and joined the BJP.
After his alleged show of support for the accused in the Kathua incident, he was forced to resign as minister from the PDP-BJP government. He eventually left the BJP in 2019 and started the DSSP.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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