SC order on urban Naxals exposes Congress, says Amit Shah

New Delhi: After the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the arrest of five activists by the Maharashtra police in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, the BJP on Friday claimed that the apex court’s order has vindicated its stand that the accused were not arrested because of dissent and attacked the Congress president Rahul Gandhi for coming out in support of Maoists, “urban Naxals,” fake activists and the “Bharat Ke Tukde Tukde Gang”.

Tagging an old tweet of Mr Gandhi where he had attacked the RSS over the arrests, BJP president Amit Shah tweeted: “There is only one place for idiocy and it’s called the Congress. Support ‘Bharat Ke Tukde Tukde Gang’, Maoists, fake activists and corrupt elements. Defame all those who are honest and working...Welcome to Rahul Gandhi’s Congress.”  Asking Mr Gandhi to clarify its stand on Urban Naxalism, the BJP president said those who “stooped down to the level of polticising an issue of national security have been exposed by the Supreme Court’s decision today.”

Mr Shah said that India is a “vibrant democracy with a healthy culture of debate, discussion and dissent. However, plotting against the country with the intent to harm our citizens is not one of these. Those who politicised this issue need to apologise.” The apex court refused to interfere with the arrest of five rights activists by the Maharashtra Police in connection with the case and declined to appoint a SIT to probe their arrest.

Citing comments of Mr Gandhi and other Congress leaders against the BJP and the Narendra Modi government following arrests of the activists for their alleged links with Maoists, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that the Congress president stood with them “shamelessly” to promote his political interests.

“This is defeat of the Congress. Rahul Gandhi should hang his head in shame...Our country and national security mean nothing for Rahul Gandhi, and the only thing important for him is his political agenda... Why don’t you stand with India and why do you stand with anti-India forces?” asked Mr Patra. adding that some of these activists were arrested earlier as well for their alleged links with banned outfits.

The BJP leader alleged that the Congress wants to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it does not matter to it that whether Pakistan does it or Maoists. He claimed that even as allies of the Congress are not backing Mr Gandhi’s leadership, he is stooping to make himself acceptable.