False cases against Pragya, Aseemanand: Shah
Kolkata: Defending his party’s decision to field Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur as its candidate from Bhopal, BJP President Amit Shah on Monday said that she was framed in a false case in the name of “Hindu terror” and the real culprits were still out of the purview of law.
Thakur, prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, is now out on bail and has been named as the BJP candidate from Bhopal against Congress veteran and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh.
“As far as the question of Sadhvi Pragya is concerned, a false case was filed in the name of Hindu terror. There was an effort to defame Indian culture all over the world,” Shah told mediapersons here.
Referring to the 2007 Samjahuta Express bombing, he said false cases were also lodged against former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist Swami Aseemanand and others.
“Where are the people who were actually behind Samjhauta blast? Whoever did that, they were supporters of terrorist organisations, not us. They were held by the CBI and said that the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was involved in the blast,” he explained.
Hitting out at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for calling the BJP a terrorist gang, Shah said: “It is a sign of the TMC government’s mental limitations. The BJP has been a nationalist organisation since its inception. A party that takes strong steps against terrorism, cannot be a terror outfit itself.”
The BJP chief also spoke about the Congress’ election promise to remove the sedition law from the Constitution and asked Banerjee what message she wanted to send when she sits with Congress after the elections.
He also asked Banerjee whether she agreed with National Conference leader Omar Abdullah’s comment that there should be a second Prime Minister in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Abdullahji was sharing a dais with you. You must decide first, if you will agree to do away with Article 370 (granting special status to Kashmir),” he said referring to the TMC chief-convened January 19 rally of the Opposition parties.