BJP leader slams Rahul Gandhi; calls for ban on PDP

Jammu, Jul 27: Senior Jammu BJP leader Sunil Sharma on Monday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of deriving political mileage from the protests over the alleged NEET paper leak, asserting that the Centre already addressed concerns through an agreement.

Sharma, leader of the opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, launched a attack on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) over its reported demand for the release of around 2,500 detainees on the lines of the relief extended after the Delhi agitation, and demanded that the party be banned, alleging it was trying to “revive and give space” to separatist ideology.

“Rahul Gandhi is unnecessarily trying to insert himself into this entire issue (student protest)…the young people who were part of this movement reached a very amicable resolution with the government, following which they called off their protest,” Sharma said, reacting to the letter written by Gandhi to Home Minister Amit Shah.

“Whether it was their demands for compensation, the withdrawal of FIRs, resignations, or any other issue, the government of India reached an agreement with them on all their demands. Now I fail to understand what Gandhi is looking for. He is simply trying to create political space for himself. Unfortunately, the Congress Party, which has been facing defeats on all fronts, is now trying to find relevance here,” Sharma added.

In his letter to Shah, Gandhi demanded accountability for the “barbaric assault” on peacefully protesting students in Delhi and asked whether he approved the use of “lethal force”, including pellet guns, against the youth.

Sharma termed as “unfortunate” PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s reported demand for the release of around 2,500 people detained by police following the killing of a policeman by a lone terrorist in south Kashmir last week, questioning whether the party was “equating separatists and terrorists with those students who were fighting for their careers and their professional future.” The BJP leader alleged that the PDP was advocating the release of those involved in stone-pelting and supporters of terrorists.

“Unfortunately, I would say that a party whose very foundation was built on separatism should face the same treatment as Jamaat-e-Islami and other Hurriyat organisations that have been banned,” he said The PDP should be “banned”, Sharma said, for its attempt to revive and once again give space to the separatist ideology.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Zorawar Singh targeted the National Conference government over the recent controversy surrounding two books allegedly glorifying separatism, accusing it of failing to uphold moral accountability.

Drawing a comparison with the Centre’s handling of the alleged NEET paper leak, Singh said the then Union Education Minister had resigned on moral grounds despite the National Testing Agency being an autonomous body.

In contrast, he alleged, the Omar Abdullah-led government had failed to take responsibility for the textbook controversy.

Questioning Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s silence, Singh demanded the resignation or removal of Education Minister Sakina Itoo, accusing the National Conference of practising “double standards” on morality. (PTI)