Congress working President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for instigating communal violence in Delhi and demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah. She also questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for inaction and said that CM should be visible in all affected areas.
"Centre, home minister and Delhi government are responsible for the situation in Delhi. Amit Shah must take responsibility for violence in Delhi and resign," Gandhi said.
“CM and Delhi Government are equally responsible for not activating the administration to reach out to the people to maintain peace and harmony. It is the collective failure of both governments that have resulted in a great tragedy in the capital city,” she said, attacking the newly-elected AAP government.
Rapping Delhi Police for its incompetence to maintain law and order in violence-affected areas, Gandhi said, “Delhi Police has remained paralysed. In the last 72 hours, around 18 lives have been lost so far, including a head constable and hundreds are in hospital, many with gunshot injuries. Violence continues unabated on the streets of North East Delhi.”
In a veiled reference to a hate speech made by BJP leader Kapil Mishra three days ago, Gandhi said there is a clear conspiracy behind the violence. "The country also saw this during Delhi elections. Many BJP leaders made inciting comments creating an atmosphere of fear and hatred. A BJP leader gave an ultimatum of three days," she said.
The interim Congress president also demanded that adequate security forces must be deployed to bring the situation under control and "peace committees must be formed in mohallas with representation from every community".
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also made an appeal to the people of Delhi to not indulge in violence, exercise caution and maintain peace. "We have told our workers in Uttar Pradesh to do all they can to maintain peace if violence spreads there," she said.
The death toll in North-east Delhi riots has now reached 21 with various reports coming in regarding the death of a 25-year-old Intelligence Bureau officer in Chand Bagh area.
