The Congress on Monday hit out at the BJP, the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh Government over the lathi-charge on women students of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and demanded the immediate sacking of the Vice-Chancellor and a judicial probe by a sitting High Court Judge into the incident.
The party also hit back at BJP chief Amit Shah for his remark against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the party that they believed in politics of “dynasty and appeasement” and asked the BJP chief to look within before pointing fingers at others.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence over the “preposterous and shocking” incident, and asked what his stand was on the “atrocity” perpetrated on the students in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency.
Describing the V-C as “incorrigible” and “insensitive”, Tewari asked Modi if such a person could head an institute of academic excellence like the BHU. “We demand that the President of India, who is the Visitor of the university,
immediately take cognisance
of what has happened in
BHU and sack the vice
chancellor,” Tewari said at AICC briefing.
Attacking the BJP and its rule in Uttar Pradesh, Tewari said the Government had been been a “failure” on all fronts and accused it of “shedding crocodile tears”. “We demand an inquiry by a sitting High Court judge that should go into all the facts and circumstances as to how this atrocity was perpetrated and hold all those people who were responsible for ordering this lathi-charge to account,” Tewari said.
Reacting to Amit Shah’s comments, Tewari said, “Before pointing fingers at others, the BJP chief should first look within”. “We would like to ask those who talk about dynasty politics that if BJP does not believe in dyansties what are the sons of former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Chief Ministers Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh doing in the lok Sabha,” Tewari said.
Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said a “rattled” BJP President and his party should shed its “fear and obsession” with Rahul Gandhi and answer questions.
On Shah’s charge of Congress pursuing appeasement politics, Tewari said the party believes in secularism and equality, and that is why during the 10 years of UPA Government there was no social tension.
He accused the BJP-led Government at the Centre of having “destroyed” communal harmony through contentious issues like cow protection, ghar wapsi and love jihad.
Tewari said be it the issue of the nation’s federal structure, internal security or economy, the Modi Government has “failed completely”. He claimed the Government had failed to deliver on even a single promise made before the 2014 elections.
Congress blamed the Modi Government for “communal tension” and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. “In 40 months, Narendra Modi has made it clear that he does not know how to run the Government or the country. In the remaining 20 months, they have no other strategy except perpetrating religious polarisation and (flaring) communal tensions. The country should be aware of their designs of polarising society,” he said.