The latest incident of lynching in Alwar has sparked off a Twitter war between the Congress and the BJP, after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi cited it as an example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “brutal New India” and Finance Minister Piyush Goyal retaliated by calling the Congress president “a merchant of hate”.
Opposition MPs raised the issue in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour and blamed gau rakshaks (cow protectors) for the killing.
‘Brutal New India’
Reacting to reports that policemen delayed taking the lynching victim to the hospital, Mr. Gandhi tweeted: “Policemen in Alwar took three hours to get a dying Rakbar Khan, the victim of a lynch mob, to a hospital just six km away. Why? They took a tea-break en route . This is Modi’s brutal “New India” where humanity is replaced with hatred and people are crushed and left to die.” Mr. Goyal was quick to react. “Stop jumping with joy every time a crime happens, Mr. Rahul Gandhi. The state has already assured strict & prompt action. You divide the society in every manner possible for electoral gains & then shed crocodile tears. Enough is Enough. You are a MERCHANT OF HATE,” he tweeted.
Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani tagged his tweet and responded, “Rahul Gandhi’s family presided over the worst form of hate in 1984, Bhagalpur & Nellie & many other instances. It is shameful that he is doing the same through VULTURE POLITICS. Not a single instance goes by where he doesn’t attempt to rupture social bonds for electoral gains.”
Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore too asked Mr. Gandhi to stop using a crime for political gains. “The local police is already on the case. Justice will be served. Stop sowing seeds of hatred in society simply for a few votes,” he tweeted.
Protests in Lok Sabha
Similar sparring between BJP and Congress members were witnessed in the Lok Sabha as well, after Congress MPs sought to pin the blame for the Alwar lynching and cases of sexual assaults on the ruling BJP.
Karan Singh Yadav, Congress MP, alleged that the latest Alwar incident was the fourth in the State where gau rakshaks were behind an attack.
This led to a string of protests from the BJP members in the House.
