Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, states that were named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while condemning the incident from Manipur where two women were paraded naked and sexually assaulted, hit out at the PM and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanding answers on the law and order situation in the BJP-ruled state.
The PM, in his customary pre-Parliament Session remarks, said that he was “pained” by the incident in Manipur.
“Be it Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Manipur or any part of the country, maintaining law and order and respecting women should be above politics,” the PM said on Thursday.
Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot, in a tweet, attacked the saffron party saying that it is “due to the negligence of the BJP” that 142 people have so far died in Manipur.
“It is very sad that the violence in Manipur is not stopping. The whole country is worried about this… Seeing Manipur, people in Rajasthan are asking do BJP governments not know how to run law and order?” the CM tweeted in Hindi.
In another tweet, Gehlot said, “Nothing is more important to us than the safety and dignity of women. After the gruesome gang rape in Jodhpur, the three accused were arrested in just two hours. Whereas BJP took 77 days to nab just one accused in the shameful incident of Manipur. Time to answer on crime: Congress — two hours, BJP — 77 days.”
Gehlot was talking about the July 16 gangrape of three students of a minor Dalit girl on the campus of Jai Narain Vyas University in Jodhpur. The accused were arrested shortly.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel told reporters at the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha, that the PM has maintained a stony silence on the issue, although the state has been “burning” for the past three months.
“Manipur has been burning for the past three months, but Prime Ministerji did not speak about it even once. For the first time he spoke about the incident. He did not speak about Manipur but instead roped in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Even when he or Amit Shah came to Chhattisgarh, they did not mention law and order as an issue,” he said.
“But, now he is comparing Manipur to Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as elections are nearing in these two states. He did not speak a word on crimes occurring on the premises of Uttar Pradesh courts and hospitals, nor on treatment of tribals in Madhya Pradesh,” Baghel said.
Further, the Chhattisgarh CM said that PM Modi went on foreign visits and even campaigned for his party in Chhattisgarh as well as Karnataka, but did not visit Manipur, which has been rocked by ethnic violence since May 3.
“He just wants to deviate people from the Manipur issue. He is comparing Manipur to a state which is peaceful. He should stop lying and throwing phrases,” Baghel said.