Congress party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan defended Rahul Gandhi’s statement that there seems to have been killings and rape by policemen at the Bhatta Parsaul village in UP during the recent farmers’ stir.
The statement, made by Rahul Gandhi when he and a delegation of farmers from the village were meeting the Prime Minister, have drawn the ire of the UP government. The so-called mass grave — a large pile of ash — is yet to be identified as human remains.
Asked whether the Congress had any proof to back up its allegations of rape and murder, Natarajan said it was not a Court to demand evidence. She also said that Rahul Gandhi was being quoted out of context by the media.
“This is not a Court, to talk about evidence.. It was a delegation,” she said. She further called for a thorough probe in the goings on in Noida’s Parsaul village to establish that there was no rape or murder by UP policemen in their efforts to put down a farmers’ agitation.
Meanwhile, speaking at a party function in Varanasi in UP, Rahul Gandhi questioned why the UP government is not ordering a judicial inquiry.
BJP, on the other hand, attacked Rahul Gandhi for failing to “do his homework” and making “exaggerated allegations.”
“The Congress must do some introspection.. Senior general secretaries should not be making such exaggerated statements without first doing some homework,” said a BJP spokewoman.
Farmers have been agitating for a better price for the land being acquired by the UP government. According to the farmers, the UP government is selling their land to private builders for several times what it paid to them as its acquisition price.
Mayawati-led UP government has accused rival political parties such as Samajwadi and Rashtriya Lok Dal of fanning the flames for political gain.
The allegations and counter-allegations are being seen as political preparation for the UP state elections due for early next year.