The Congress on Tuesday took potshots at the composition of Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers which includes riots accused Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Balyan as an MoS and undergraduate Smriti Irani as the HRD Minister. It also pointed at the poor representation of the States.
“Why media is surprised by the inclusion of Muzaffarnagar riot accused in the MinistryIJ After all it is Modi Sarkar,” party general secretary Shakeel Ahmed tweeted. A practising veterinary doctor, Balyan, who took oath as a Minister of State, had joined the BJP only one-and-half-years ago. Balyan, elected from Muzaffarnagar is among two party MPs from Western UP who have been given representation in Modi’s Ministerial council. Ghaziabad MP and former Army chief VK Singh is the other MP from the region.
He was jailed for about one month during the pre-emptive action taken before the Muzaffarnagar riots broke out. Balyan was part of a mahapanchayat held last year despite prohibitory orders that allegedly inflamed tensions. He was charged by the police with violation of prohibitory orders and promoting enmity between two communities. BJP has maintained that Baliyan was framed in a politically motivated case. The Muzaffarnagar riots had claimed more than 60 lives.
Former Union Minister Ajay Maken launched a frontal attack on the Modi Government. While taking a dig at Smriti Irani, Maken tweeted that the new HRD Minister, according to her affidavit to the election commission, is not even a graduate.
Maken also pointed that 10 States and six Union Territories have gone unrepresented in the Council of Ministers.
The Congress questioned “poor” representation of Rajasthan despite the BJP’s impressive performance in lok Sabha polls in the State. PCC president Sachin Pilot said it was disappointing that only one MP from Rajasthan was made Minister of State despite the fact that the party won all 25 constituencies in the lS elections.
“Either the BJP MPs were not deserving candidates for ministerial berth or the Chief Minister failed to make a strong representation of the MPs from the State,” said Pilot, who is a former MoS. Pilot lost the lok Sabha elections from Ajmer constituency.