BJP blames Congress for Republic Day protest violence

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday accused the Congress of “continuously instigating agitating farmers” which led to the violence during the tractor rally taken out by farmers teams on Republic Day on Tuesday, and singled out the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab authorities of not taking appearing towards “habitual offenders” who, the BJP mentioned, had headed to Delhi for the rally.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar in a press convention late within the night on Wednesday squarely blamed the Congress and the celebration’s authorities in Punjab for inciting protesters that led to the violence. “They [the Congress] want to provoke violence, provoke the police to take harsh action, to create instability, that is all the politics the Congress is now reduced to,” he mentioned.

“The government has held 10 rounds of talks with farmers groups, and also said it was ready to suspend the laws for a year or two, to discuss the laws clause by clause. The laws dealing with agricultural reform were just to give an option to farmers. The Congress also understands this but did not want any compromise to work out. They want to spoil the atmosphere in the country only because they lost the elections. That Congress would attempt this on Republic Day shows the depths to which their politics has sunk. They cannot escape responsibility as they are in power in Punjab,” he mentioned.

He lauded the Delhi Police for “showing restraint” within the face of provocation. “The Delhi Police showed remarkable restraint yesterday. They had weapons but they did not use them despite being attacked by swords, rods, lathis and managed to bring order in a few hours,” he mentioned.

“The people of this country have seen all, and will give an appropriate response to this. The Congress tried the same tactics by instigating protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, and now with the farm laws, and I’m sure they will try again. Despite Congress’ efforts farmers have not agitated in many other States,” he mentioned.

The BJP’s official assertion within the wake of the violence through the tractor rally that led to the loss of life of 1 protestor, the chaos on the Red Fort, and accidents to round 300 policemen on obligation at the moment, exhibits that it’s decided to grab the ethical excessive it feels farmer teams have ceded as violence erupted on Republic Day regardless of assurances by farm leaders that the protest rally could be peaceable.

A bit of the celebration, nonetheless, additionally feels that the sequence of occasions has consolidated individuals in their very own positions and the celebration must work laborious to take away the anti-farmer tag from itself, particularly in Punjab and Haryana. In Haryana, the resignation of Indian National Lok Dal MLA Abhay Chautala is being seen as an try by him to pressurise his nephew and Jannayak Janata Party chief Dushyant Chautala, whose celebration additionally rests on Jat help, to withdraw help from the Manohar Lal Khattar led authorities within the State. “We are watching developments as of now,” mentioned a senior BJP chief.

With two farmers groups withdrawing their blockade from two factors on the Delhi border, and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha group cancelling one other proposed march on February 1, the day the Union finances is to be tabled, the celebration is respiration a sigh of reduction.