In Madhya Pradesh last week the Conhgress laid out the red carpet for a man who a few months ago not only defended Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur but also offered her an Assembly seat.
Inder Prajapat was the national general secretary of Uma Bharati?s Bharatiya Janshakti when he made that offer in October 2008 after revelations of Pragya Singh?s alleged involvement in the blasts that killed several Muslims in Maharashtra had come to light.
?She is innocent and free to contest from anywhere in the state,? he had declared in Indore, one of the communally sensitive towns in the state.
Prajapat, who walked to the Congress headquarters in Bhopal with hundreds of supporters last week, went back on his offer to Pragya Singh, saying her lawyer had approached him with such a request.
The Congress did not need that explanation, however, and no one opposed his re-induction into the party from which he was expelled in 2001 in the wake of an alleged murderous assault on Manak Agarwal. Both Prajapat and Agarwal were general secretaries when Prajapat fired at him. Agarwal, who was the chief spokesman till recently, survived the attack but the Bhopal District Sessions Court sentenced Prajapat to six years in prison, a judgment he challenged in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He spent nearly 30 months in jail before he was released on bail after appealing against the Sessions? Court verdict.
Seniors leaders like AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh and former deputy chief minister Jamuna Devi have opposed Prajapat?s re-induction on this count.
?How could a man convicted of a murderous assault on another Congressman be admitted to the party,?? those opposed to Prajapat?s return have asked without once referring to his open support of the Malegaon blast accused.
But then it would be misguided in the first place to expect the Congress to question Prajapat on his adherence to secular ideals. When the involvement of alleged Hindu terrorists in the blasts in Malegaon first surfaced, the Congress simply avoided getting drawn into the discussion for fear of antagonising the majority community.
The Congress? mincing was in marked contrast to the aggression shown by senior BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh and LK Advani, on the other side of the ?secular-communal? divide who then alleged it was a conspiracy to defame Hindu society and relayed stories of the Sadhvi?s alleged torture by the Maharashtra anti-terror squad.
The only Congress leader to take an unambiguous stand against Hindu terrorism was Digvijay Singh, who had been once dragged to a court for accusing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh volunteers of making a bomb.
The party gave tickets to a few Muslims in the last round of Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, but it was seen as more symbolism rather than a genuine attempt to give greater representation to the minority community.
It is not really a surprise, therefore, that the Congress in MP has indicated that if there?s a re-think on Prajapat?s entry it would only be on account of his alleged criminal background.