JOIN USThe war of words over the gang rape of a Schedule Caste woman in Alwar intensified on Sunday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing BSP supremo Mayawati of shedding “crocodile tears” over the incident.
“Please do not shed crocodile tears. If you (Mayawati) are serious, why don’t you withdraw support to the Congress government in Rajasthan,” Modi said targeting Mayawati while addressing poll rallies in Kushinagar and Deoria in Uttar Pradesh.
Ram Vilas Paswan, an NDA ally and Union minister, also joined the offensive against Mayawati, accusing the Congress government in Rajasthan of “deliberately” suppressing the incident in view of polls in the state.
“The sequence of events makes it clear that Rajasthan government deliberately suppressed the incident for electoral gains. Mayawati should stop playing petty politics,” Paswan, chief of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), said in a series of tweets.
The BSP supremo hit back, accusing Modi of indulging in “dirty politics.”
“BSP for sure will take a required political decision if strict action is not taken in the case,” Mayawati said.
Flagging various atrocities against the SCs, including the Una public flogging and the suicide of Rohit Vemula, the BSP chief asked Modi why he hadn’t taken responsibility for those incidents and resigned.
On Saturday, Mayawati had accused the Rajasthan government of suppressing the rape in view of the elections.