As a panicked workforce from UP and Bihar made its journey back home in the light of incidents of violence against them in Gujarat, the BJP on Tuesday blamed Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Congress MLA from Gujarat Alpesh Tahkor for violence against the Hindi-speaking people in the state.
An estimated 50,000 Hindi-speaking migrants from UP and Bihar have fled Gujarat after they came under attack in different parts of Gujarat, particularly in industrial estates and places where the migrant workforce stays.
Since the rape of a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha district on September 28 and the arrest of a labourer hailing from Bihar for the crime, six districts, most of them in north Gujarat, have witnessed violence.
BJP spokesman Sambit Patra claimed that Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor was fomenting attacks on migrants and sought his dismissal from the party.
Patra said that in desperation to launch the political career of Rahul his party has engaged in a conspiracy to create division and confusion in different communities in the country. He alleged that there was a pattern to what Congress is doing and cited instances of violence in Bhima-Koregaon in Maharashtra, violence in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh and "support" to Urban-Naxals by the Opposition party.
He alleged that Congress president appointed Thakor as deputy-in-charge of Bihar and the latter orchestrated attacks against migrants from Bihar in Gujarat. He said 30 Congressmen were arrested by the Gujarat police who he claimed had instigated violence against the Hindi speaking work-force.
The BJP leader said over a period Rahul was creating confusion in the country to promote himself. The party has failed to launch his career even though it has used all methods at its hand. People have refused to accept his leadership and Rahul has "no substance", Patra said adding that people will give a fitting reply to him and his party during the elections.
BJP also showed a short video film where Congress leaders in different States were purportedly seen instigating violence.