H. Raja, senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has warned the ruling Congress of serious consequences if the government attempts to frame BJP local unit president V. Saminathan.
“Any attempts to frame Mr. Saminathan will be considered an assault on Mr. Modi,” he said. Mr. Raja was addressing the media after flagging off the party’s campaign vehicle on creating awareness about the Centre’s scheme on educating the girl child and female infanticide here on Monday.
Mr. Raja said the Congress had been trying to frame Mr. Saminathan in some cases. “They are trying to include him in many cases. But their attempts will not succeed,” he said. Mr. Raja’s strong statement comes at a time when the BJP and the Congress are engaged in a war of words over the nomination of Mr. Saminathan and two of his party colleagues as Puducherry MLAs. Flaying the Congress for orchestrating the protest against Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi during her weekend visits, he said the ruling party had been trying to deflect attention from its failure to improve the financial situation.
Urging Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy to restrain the Congress workers from indulging in such activities, he said the BJP would be compelled to launch a similar protest against the Chief Minister.
The BJP leader said Ms. Bedi had been taking a pro-active role in the administration of the Union Territory. Her intervention had resulted in preserving several water bodies.
Earlier, Mr. Raja flagged off the party’s campaign vehicle to create awareness on “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” scheme. The vehicle would tour all the constituencies in the Puducherry region.
