Digvijay remarks spark furore

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has stoked a controversy with his remarks appearing to suggest a BJP link to the Mahabodhi Temple serial blasts, forcing the party into a delicate balancing act.

On Twitter, Singh had indirectly accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of having a hand in the serial blasts. At a party press conference on Monday, Congress spokesperson Bhakt Charan Das had a tough time answering questions.

“The Congress believes there should be no kite-flying on such grave incidents,” Das said but sidestepped questions on whether it meant the party was distancing itself from Singh’s remarks. He said the Congress believed that there should be no politics on such issues.

Das said the tweets, if read in their entirety, do not convey the meaning as has been derived by media. He said the party would not like to point fingers at any probe agency.

 Singh had tweeted: “Flip side of this. Amit Shah promises a grand temple at Ayodhya. Modi addresses Bihar BJP workers and asks them to teach Nitish a lesson. Next day bomb blasts at Mahabodhi Temple. Is there a connect? I don’t know. Allow NIA to complete investigation please!”

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters on Monday, Singh criticised the Bihar government for leaving the security of the Mahabodhi temple in private hands.

 “If there were IB inputs about possible terror attacks, then the state government should not have left security of a place as important as the Mahabodhi temple in private hands,” he said.

The Bodh Gaya temple management committee and the state police were jointly responsible for the security of the Mahabodhi temple which draws visitors, particularly Buddhists, from across the world.The committee on Sunday decided to hand over the security of the temple to the state police.

The Congress also called for a speedy investigation into the serial blasts and demanded the guilty be brought to book.

Singh is no stranger to controversy as his remarks including the one on two power centers within the Congress, and observations of the Supreme Court on the CBI report on coal block allocations had stirred the Hornet’s nest.