The Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to criticise the brief statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the police action at the Ramlila Maidan was unfortunate but inevitable.
Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said “it does not behove a person of Dr. Manmohan Singh's stature” to justify the police action on the innocent followers of Ramdev gathered peacefully at the Ramlila Maidan. The media was full of stories of persons injured in the police lathi-charge but the government was in denial with Ministers claiming that no one was injured, Mr. Prasad said.
The BJP was convinced that the demand to curb corruption through effective legislation and the government's forced eviction of people gathered to protest corruption would boomerang on the ruling party and would prove to be a “turning point” in the electoral fortunes of the Opposition party.
“Inhuman statement”
PTI reports:
BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the statement of the Prime Minister “vindicates the BJP's stand that it seems the unleashing of midnight terror on innocents was orchestrated by the Prime Minister and his office in consent with 10 Janpath.” “The Prime Minister has fallen in grace for all times to come,” he said.
Mr. Rudy alleged that the Prime Minister had lost all credibility and his statement was “not only inhuman but also amply narrates the insensitivity of the Prime Minister.” It reflected the “complete callousness” on the part of the government, he said.
Instead of expressing regret for what had happened, he was trying to “condone” the act, the BJP leader said. “Here is a Prime Minister who himself opines that terror should be unleashed on common man. His statement is bizarre and unexpected,” he said.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat said the party would have appreciated had the Prime Minister expressed regret at the action and that he had not done so “does not do much credit to his government.”
“I feel sorry that he has not expressed regret ... we still do not know what changed within 48 hours that from rolling out red carpet for Ramdev they went to [unleash] this terrible police attack,” she said.
