Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani has defended the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh against charges levelled by the Opposition Congress on their record of handling law and order.
The Union Minister said Chief Ministers Raghubar Das and Yogi Adityanath, facing criticism from Opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, over incidents of lynching in Jharkhand and caste violence in Uttar Pradesh were taking “strict action” against the perpetrators.
‘Strict action’
The political onslaught that Mr. Gandhi sought to wreak on the BJP did not have the people’s support. “I will only say this: as per the news reports that I have seen myself, both the State governments are taking strict action to ensure that not only are the culprits being apprehended but are also brought to justice,” she said here.
The “best counter to the Congress were the people of India” and the “minuscule Opposition provided by the Congress was getting weaker,” she said.
“From Rajasthan to U.P., Haryana and now Jharkhand, BJP-ruled States are descending into chaos and lawlessness. Will the PM answer?” Mr. Gandhi had asked in a tweet on Monday.
Ms. Irani said she had not seen BJP MP Paresh Rawal’s tweet that Booker prize winning author Arundhati Roy ought to be tied to the front of an army jeep, the way Jammu and Kashmir resident Farooq Dar had been.
“But I can assure you, as a woman member of the BJP and also on behalf of those sitting next to me on the dais [BJP general secretary Arun Singh and national media in charge Anil Baluni] that we will not, in any way, support a violent message against any individual,” she said.
