Congress on Tuesday took potshots over the inclusion of riots accused Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Balyan in the Union Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Why media is surprised by the inclusion of Muzaffarnagar riot accused in the ministry? After all it is Modi Sarkar (government),” party general secretary Shakeel Ahmed tweeted.
A practising veterinary doctor, Dr. Balyan, who took oath as a Minister of State on Monday had joined BJP only one-and-a-half-years back. He has been made a junior minister for agriculture and Food Processing Industries.
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A Jat and a native of Kutba village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, he was jailed for about one month during the pre-emptive action taken before the Muzaffarnagar riots broke out.
Dr. Balyan, elected from Muzaffarnagar is among two party MPs from Western Uttar Pradesh who have been given representation in Mr. Modi’s ministerial council. Ghazibad MP and former Army chief V.K. Singh is the other MP from the region.
Dr. Balyan was part of a mahapanchayat held last year that allegedly inflamed tensions despite prohibitory orders. He was charged by the police with violation of prohibitory orders and promoting enmity between two communities.
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BJP has maintained that Dr. Baliyan was framed in a politically motivated case.
The Muzaffarnagar riots had claimed more than 60 lives.