CWC meet: Sonia blames Centre for Delhi violence

Amid continued communal violence in parts of northeast Delhi that has claimed 17 lives, the Congress top leadership started deliberations on the issue at a meeting of its working committee on Wednesday.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said the Centre and the Delhi government were responsible for the deadly communal violence in the national capital and demanded that Home Minister Amit Shah should resign taking responsibility for it.

Addressing a press conference after chairing a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, she said there was a conspiracy behind the violence and tragic incidents in Delhi.

“The conspiracy was witnessed during Delhi polls and BJP leaders gave hate speeches creating atmosphere of fear and hatred,” she said.
The Centre, home minister and the Delhi government are responsible for the situation in the national capital, the Congress chief said.

Union Home Minister Shah must take responsibility for the violence in Delhi and resign, she said.

Gandhi said the Delhi government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have also failed to maintain peace.

The Congress president also hit out at BJP leader Kapil Mishra for making a statement that allegedly incited violence in the city.

The CWC has passed a resolution on the situation in the city, she said, adding that the CWC believes that the situation is grave and an urgent action is required.

Adequate security forces must be deployed to bring situation under control and peace committees must be formed in mohallas, Gandhi said, while reading out the CWC resolution on the violence in Delhi.

The Delhi chief minister must be visible in the affected areas and stay in constant communication with the people, she said.

The CWC urges people to reject politics of hate and do their best to heal rifts, Gandhi said quoting the resolution.

Meanwhile, the Congress also postponed its march to Rashtrapati Bhavan till Thursday in view of President Ram Nath Kovind's unavailability, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

The Congress is against the CAA and has urged the government to keep it in abeyance or take it back as it is causing concern among a major section of the country's population, especially the Muslim community.

The death toll in the northeast Delhi communal violence over the amended citizenship law rose to 17 on Wednesday, according to GTB Hospital authorities.

Communal violence in northeast Delhi escalated on Tuesday as police struggled to check the rioters who ran amok on streets, burning and looting shops, pelting stones and thrashing people.