JOIN USTiwari's killing acquires caste colour
The reported killing of Apple executive Vivek Tiwari by a policeman acquired a caste angle as 'Brahmin' BJP leaders took potshots at chief minister Yogi Adityanath embarrassing their own government.
Not wanting to lag behind, BSP supremo Mayawati also joined the saffron leaders saying that 'Brahmins' (the community from which Tiwari hailed) were being ''persecuted'' under the present regime.
A host of 'Brahmin' BJP leaders, including a minister and two legislators, apparently worried over the fallout of the killing, targeted their own government saying that the incident reflected that the administration is ''insensitive''.
''It shows that people with criminal mindset are in the police force... It is a blot on the state government,'' Kalraj Mishra, senior BJP leader and former union minister said on Monday.
Brijesh Pathak, a state minister, shot off a letter to Adityanath claiming that some senior police officers were trying to ''shield'' the guilty and sought stern action against the policeman.
Two BJP legislators Rajni Tiwari and Rajesh Kumar Mishra also shot off letters to the chief minister seeking action against senior police officers.
While the Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav questioned the ''encounters'' by the police and demanded Adityanath's resignation, Mayawati said that 'Brahmins' were being ''persecuted'' under the present dispensation.
Mayawati, who sent her party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra to meet the victim's family, said that the BJP government had adopted an ''apathetic'' attitude toward the community.
According to the political observers in Lucknow, the BJP is worried over the fallout of the killing, especially in the 'Brahmin' community, which was considered to be its vote bank.
''Brahmins are considered to be the supporters of the BJP. It's worried that the killing of a Brahmin techie may show the saffron party in a bad light,'' said a former faculty member at Lucknow University.
Tiwari was shot dead by a policeman early on Saturday morning in Lucknow, while he was on his way to drop a female colleague after an official event.
Tiwari was shot after he did not stop his vehicle despite being asked to do so by the policeman.