— Photo courtesy: Rajasthan Patrika

PROTEST AGAINST PROTEST: Col. (retd) Kirodi Singh, leader of the Gujjar Mahasabha (right), talks to newsmen as milkmen of Bandikui in Rajasthan dump cans of milk on the road after Gujjars prevented them from supplying milk on Wednesday. — Photo courtesy: Rajasthan Patrika

NEW DELHI: The Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday condemned the police action in Rajasthan even as Dausa MP Sachin Pilot demanded the dismissal of the Vasundhara Raje Government. The CPI (M) also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incidents.

The Congress charged the State Government with having "miserably failed to maintain law and order," leading to the tragic loss of lives. The Government should have anticipated the situation and taken effective steps to prevent the loss of lives.

Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said the elected representatives of the State were too busy depicting the Chief Minister as a goddess to turn their attention to pressing problems.

Ms. Raje had failed in fulfilling her constitutional obligation of maintaining law and order, she said.

Expressing shock over the deaths, the CPI (M) Polit Bureau, in a statement, said the agitation by the Gujjar community took place because of the promise made by the Bharatiya Janata Party before the elections.

The failure of the State Government in dealing with the matter politically had led to the violence and the needless deaths in police firing.

Demanding that the State Government order a judicial inquiry, the CPI (M) said adequate compensation should be paid to the families of those who died.

"The BJP Government, headed by Vasundhara Raje, has become notorious for its heavy-handed police repression on popular movements. The kisan movement faced brutal repression, and six people were killed. The BJP leadership, which hypocritically tried to exploit the Nandigram incident, should take strong action against its State Government," the statement said.

Mr. Pilot said the Raje Government failed "miserably" in its response to the violence.

"At point-blank range"

Briefing mediapersons here after visiting Bundi town on the Jaipur-Agra stretch, he said no representative of the State Government visited the area since the police firing on Tuesday morning.

"Six people, including five young men, were shot dead by the police at point blank range, and no one from the State Government has gone there. A medical team reached the spot only this afternoon to conduct a post-mortem."

Mr. Pilot said the State Government had not even given a token call for peace. Instead of going to the aggrieved people, Ms. Raje said she was open to talks in Jaipur, he pointed out.

On the State Government's charge that the violence was politically motivated, he said all political parties, including the BJP, were speaking for the Gujjars, and the community itself spearheaded the agitation.

Senior Congress leader Mohan Prakash said the BJP leadership, both at the Centre and the State, were responsible for the current imbroglio. "The Gujjars never sought the ST status, but the BJP made an election promise."

Mr. Prakash, former MLA, said the BJP Government had failed miserably on all fronts and was resorting to its known tactics of playing up one community against the other and then using the situation for electoral gains. "This is the 16th occasion when the police under Ms. Raje opened fire on the people. A peaceful State is now aflame."

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