The Hindu : National : Bid to damage communal fabric ahead of polls: Jaiswal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 02, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Bid to damage communal fabric ahead of polls: Jaiswal

Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW: Union Minister of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal on Monday defended his decision to ask Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati to recommend a CBI inquiry into the Kanpur bomb blast case. The demand was rejected by Ms. Mayawati.

Mr. Jaiswal, who is Kanpur MP, told journalists that the primary evidence showed that the two persons killed were Bajrang Dal activists, who died while making bombs. Similar leads had been gathered in Malegaon, Nanded and Madhya Pradesh but the police were unable to come to any conclusion. But, evidence of the Bajrang Dal’s involvement was found in the Kanpur incident, he said.

Mr. Jaiswal said had the case was referred to the CBI, the investigating agency could have exposed the alleged conspiracy to rupture the country’s communal fabric ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in some States.

Still hopeful

Stating that the State police had their limitations, Mr. Jaiswal stated in his letter to the Chief Minister that he had not posed a question mark on the police investigations. He expressed the hope that the Uttar Pradesh police and the Special Task Force would be able to expose the conspiracy.

He said the manner in which the communal forces were preparing to contest the next elections, they could go to any extent. On Ms. Mayawati’s suggestion that if the Centre was willing to club the Kanpur incident with other cases, the Government would recommend a CBI probe, Mr. Jaiswal said the other cases for which CBI inquiry had been referred cannot be clubbed with the Kanpur case.

Regarding the Congress-Samajwadi Party understanding, the Union Minister said alliance between like-minded parties with a common ideology is always beneficial. He said the SP was ideologically close to the Congress and its intentions were very clear that the party wanted to defend secularism in Uttar Pradesh.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National