Accusing Opposition parties of exploiting the sentiments of the mother of Rohith Vemula, a university student whose suicide triggered a political row in the country in 2016, the BJP on Wednesday demanded an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi whom they charged with taking her on the public stage for political gains.
Addressing a Press conference here, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said Rs 20 lakh was promised to Vemula’s mother Radhika Vemula by Indian Muslim league, a Kerala-based party, to attend political rallies where false and baseless charges were levelled against the BJP. He quoted reports saying the promised money was not given after her presence in the public rallies was misused.
“How long Opposition parties will continue with such abhorrent tactics for petty political gains.
The condition of the family (Vemula) was not good and she was promised money for political reasons so that she could share stage with Opposition leaders and level allegations,” he said.
He said Rahul had also shared staged with her and claimed that it should be found out what allurements were offered to her.
“The Congress president should apologise,” he said, claiming that Opposition parties have been unmasked for their politics based on lies. It is a repulsive politics of falsehood and lie, Goayal said.
The BJP condemns this low level of politics and political misuse of such an incident, Goyal said referring to the suicide. “People will not forget these parties,” the BJP leader said.
Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at University of Hyderabad, had committed suicide in the campus on January 17, 2016. Opposition parties had blamed Vemula’s alleged harassment by groups affiliated to the BJP and the RSS for his suicide, and had launched protests against the saffron party.
Goyal said political parties were trying to capitalise the sorrow of Vemula’s mother. As against their “repulsive politics”, he said BJP does not want to divide the society.