One of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s staunchest supporters, Naresh Gujral, too has now described the last month’s Dadri lynching a huge setback for him.
Gujaral, who is an MP representing the BJP’s ally, Shiromani Akali Dal, termed the Dadri lynching incident as a “shame” for the country adding that the murder of 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was “damaging the Prime Minister more than anybody else.”
SAD MP Naresh Gujral said here what happened in Dadri “was shameful. It was a shame for the nation and it should be condemned in strongest possible terms,” Gujaral was quoted by news agency PTI.
He said, “What happened after the lynching incident in UP is damaging the NDA, the BJP and damaging the Prime Minister more than anybody else.”
Gujaral lamented that the “motormouths” were not paying heed to even Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that no action was being taken against them.
“But unfortunately, no action has been taken against anybody…motormouths are not paying heed to what the Prime Minister has said. It is high time some action is taken against anybody so that a strong message goes all the way in Sangh Parivar that this kind of nonsense will not be tolerated,” the Rajya Sabha member said.
Gujaral’s comments are likely to hurt Modi, whose leadership credential is at stake in the ongoing Bihar elections. Reports suggest that the fear of losing Bihar has sent the BJP leadership into consternation with the party leadership now being forced to cancel three of Modi’s scheduled rallies.
Even the pro-Modi news channels have begun projecting anti-BJP Grand Alliance a huge victory.
Mohammad Akhlaq, father of an Indian Air Force personnel, was lynched to death by a mob consisting of over 100 people based on rumours that he had eaten beef in his house, The forensic tests later said that the meat in Akhlaq’s fridge was of goat and cow.
The shameful incident had caused huge international condemnation for the BJP and Modi for his reluctance to condemn the act, allegedly committed by BJP sympathisers. 7 out of 11 accused belong to the family of a local BJP leader Sanjay Rana