By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 26 Dec: Several BJP ministers and other party leaders today criticised veteran Congress leaders for resorting to a dharna in the Ankita Bhandari case.
Addressing media persons, Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal said that sitting on dharnas for valid and not so valid causes had become an integral part of the politics of veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat. He had been sitting on dharnas even against the Congress chief ministers like ND Tiwari and Vijay Bahuguna, Uniyal reminded. Uniyal further stressed that the SIT formed in the Ankita Bhandari case was doing its investigation in a free and fair manner. All the accused in the case had been arrested shortly after the murder was revealed. The High Court too had put its stamp of approval on the SIT investigation into the case.
Yet, Harish Rawat and other Congress leaders were deliberately politicising the case and trying to make an emotional pitch against the government. He added that Harish Rawat is not handling any major responsibility now and therefore has to take part in such activity to pass the time and seem relevant.
Transport Minister Chandan Ramdas claimed that by sitting on the dharna demanding a CBI inquiry into the Ankita Bhandari, Congress leader Harish Rawat is only proving that he does not trust either the Uttarakhand Police or the Uttarakhand High Court, which had ruled that the SIT investigation into the murder case has been fair.
Women Empowerment Minister Rekha Arya claimed that Congress leader Harish Rawat has a tendency to issue statements, make issues out of non-issues and to sit on dharnas. Yet, he is not winning the elections anymore because the people now clearly understand his empty rhetoric.
BJP State President Mahendra Bhatt claimed that that Harish Rawat is fighting a battle for existence amidst Congress infighting. Bhatt said that taking the Ankita murder case seriously, the government had constituted the SIT on time. The SIT had also filed a charge-sheet in the matter and was working impartially and without pressure as per the government and public sentiment. But the Congress had been indulging in politics on this sad occasion from the very beginning and trying to create an atmosphere of mistrust against the SIT probe. However, the court had rejected the petition for CBI probe in the case. Yet the Congress is still trying to incite public sentiments on this. Terming Congress’s dharna as a political gimmick, Bhatt said it is the result of a factional struggle and fight for existence in the Congress. He said that BJP had already removed the accused from the party immediately after the incident and the CM had urged the court for fast track hearing of the case.
