Rajiv Jasrotia also allegedly attended another meeting where a demand to boycott Gujjars and Bakerwals was made.
New Delhi: BJP’s Kathua MLA Rajiv Jasrotia, who attended the controversial rally organised in support of the men accused of gang raping and murdering an eight-year-old Bakerwal girl earlier this year, was inducted into the Jammu and Kashmir cabinet Monday.
Jasrotia is among the eight MLAs, including two from BJP’s ally People’s Democratic Party, who took oath as ministers in CM Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP-BJP alliance government.
The cabinet rejig comes after two BJP ministers — forest minister Chaudhary Lal Singh and industries and commerce minister Chander Prakash Ganga —resigned in the wake of the controversy that they allegedly spoke in support of the suspects at the same rally which was organised by a local group called Hindu Ekta Manch.
In the video of the rally, Lal Singh can be heard referring to the presence of Jasrotia. ThePrint tried to reach Jasrotia for comment but he did not respond to calls and text messages. This report will be updated when he responds.
“The reshuffle is just a sign of reconciliation after the resignation of the two BJP ministers to save the PDP-BJP alliance,” said a PDP source.
“The state BJP leadership had felt alienated after the two senior ministers were asked to resign for addressing a rally. Everyone from the BJP has been unequivocally demanding the transfer of the Kathua rape case to the CBI,” the source added.
The BJP ministers in the state government had offered to resign en masse on 17 April.
It has been alleged that Samba MLA Davinder Kumar Manyal who took oath as minister Monday and Hira Nagar MLA Kuldeep Verma and Jasrotia also attended a separate meeting that called for a social boycott of the Gujjars and Bakerwals.
“Jasrotia, Manyal and Hira Nagar MLA Kuldeep Verma attended the meeting at Parshuram Mandir where they announced a boycott of Gujjars and Bakerwals,” claimed Talib Hussain, the lawyer and activist who has been fighting for justice in the Kathua rape case.
“Inducting these MLAs into the cabinet is to keep the Hindu Ekta Manch and Bar Association of Jammu happy,’ he added.
Verma also allegedly took part in the Hindu Ekta Manch rally.
Deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh, who stood behind chief minister Mufti when the crisis broke, has been replaced by speaker Kavinder Gupta. Gupta has called the Kathua gang rape and murder a “minor incident”.