Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar seems to be facing mounting pressure to step down, with BJP leader Subramanian Swamy hinting that the CM does not enjoy total support of BJP leaders.
“The question of (Khattar’s) resignation has to be taken up by the prime minister, because he selected him,” said Swamy.
He went on to indicate that he was not at all pleased with the way things have turned out in the state.
“He may have decentralized decision making on how to control this without taking his own micro.. interest in it. But it is a complete failure of law and order machinery,” he added, in what can be seen as the harshest statements on the whole affair by a senior BJP leader so far.
Swamy, however, said that Khattar himself has accepted that steps that ought to have been taken had not been taken.
The comments are indicative of the mood among senior leaders of the party in Delhi.
Home minister Rajnath Singh is reported to be furious about the turn of events in the state, and several media reports indicate that Khattar has been summoned to Delhi for an explanation.
The CM has meanwhile given interviews to media and assured them that damages caused to them in the form of loss of OB vans will be made good.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has also stepped in and directed the government to compensate everyone for their losses and recover the amount from the assets of Dera Saccha Sauda.
Supporters of flamboyant religious leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim went on a rampage on Friday after a special CBI court in Panchkula in Haryana found him guilty of raping two of his followers.
The Haryana government is accused of not preventing his supporters from coming to Panchkula and camping on roads and parks in the days leading to the court order.
The supporters set fire to vehicles and smashed shops and establishments in Panchkula and Sirsa, home to Dera’s headquarters.
Most BJP leaders have not commented on the fiasco. Among those that did was MP Sakshi Maharaj, who smelt a conspiracy against the religious leader and the state government of Haryana in the whole ordeal.
In comments that were disowned by his party, he held the courts partly responsible for the events and said it was difficult to believe the word of two people when millions of his followers have never faced any harassment from the Guru.
Opposition figures have been unsparing in their criticism of Khattar’s handling of the situation.
“It should have been expected that there would have some sort of reaction. They (followers) should have been halted at the districts,” said Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh.
“Once they concentrated in Panchkula, there was not much option.. The mistake was made yesterday. They should not have been allowed to concentrate in Panchkula,” he added.