Congress responsible for '84,'89 riots; BJP for 2002 riots: Nitish Kumar
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday held the Congress governments at the Centre and in the state responsible for 1984 anti-Sikh riots and 1989 Bhagalpur riots and said the BJP government in Gujarat was accountable for the 2002 riots in that state.
All these riots were blots on the country for which all Indians were ashamed, Kumar said and asked those responsible for the carnage to own up responsibility.
"Nobody could escape accountability for these incidents," the chief minister told reporters in reply to a question on Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's interview to a national news channel on Monday.
In the interview, Rahul Gandhi said the Narendra Modi government was responsible for 'abetting and pushing' the 2002 Gujarat riots while the Congress government tried to stop the 1984 riots.
The Congress leader, however, offered no apology for the anti-Sikh violence. Kumar slammed the RJD-led government headed then by Lalu Prasad for closing the investigation in the Bhagalpur riots case after assuming power in 1990, despite the facts that there were material evidences available to bring the culprits to book.
It was his government that pursued the Bhagalpur riots case and brought the culprits to justice, besides providing assistance and relief to the victims and pension to the those displaced in the incident, Kumar said.
Next: Rahul Gandhi's ordinance tearing 'dikhawa', says Nitish
Rahul Gandhi's ordinance tearing 'dikhawa', says Nitish
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday termed as 'dikhawa' (farce) Rahul Gandhi's outburst late last year publicly denouncing a controversial central government ordinance to convey his will to fight corruption.
When Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president, had trashed his own government's ordinance on tainted MPs 'many people criticised him but I supported him', said Kumar, whose government is being supported by the Congress.
"But, later I realised that it was a dikhawa (farce)," Kumar said about the September 27 incident in which Gandhi had slammed the ordinance brought in to negate a Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers, describing it as "complete nonsense" and saying what "our government has done is wrong".
The Centre subsequently withdrew the ordinance and it resulted in RJD president Lalu Prasad losing his Chhapra Lok Sabha seat after conviction for five years in a fodder scam case. Prasad was jailed in October but he secured a bail in December.
Prasad on Monday met Gandhi, for the second time this month, amid indications that RJD and Congress were working out the nitty-gritty of forging a 'secular alliance' in Bihar.
Kumar, also a senior JD(U) leader, trashed Rahul Gandhi's defence of a likely alliance with the RJD for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and said, there was huge difference between what (Rahul) Gandhi says and does.
"Even the public understands as much and will not buy his clarification on his party's alliance with the RJD in Bihar," the Chief Minister said.
Stating that the RJD had been part of the UPA-I and also supported UPA-II from outside, Kumar said, "given the similarity of thinking and behaviour of the two parties (RJD and Congress), their alliance is a natural one."
Kumar also took the Congress vice-president to task for his remarks that the party had taken action wherever corruption was involved.
"(Rahul) Gandhi will have to own up responsibility for not only the price rise and corruption during the UPA governments, but also for the work culture of its regime that allowed these problems to fester much to the chagrin of the masses," he said.
