Don't preach us 'rajdharma'; your record is full of twists & turns: Ravi Shankar Prasad to Sonia Gandhi

Raking up Emergency again, the BJP on Friday cornered Congress president Sonia Gandhi after she reminded the central government of it's 'Rajdharma', and put the blame for communal violence in parts of Delhi on the “instigation” by the Opposition leaders including her.

“Please don't teach us 'Rajdharma'. Your record is full of rapid violations, twists and turns for, plain and simple, vote bank politics,” senior BJP leader and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said referring to Sonia's "fight to finish battle" remarks at a rally in Ramlila Maidan in December last year, asking whether her remarks did not constitute provocation.

While addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, however, Prasad remained evasive to questions about immediate action against some of the BJP leaders including Kapil Mishra who made hate speeches before the violence broke out in parts of North-East Delhi.

Opposition parties have made direct accusations against Mishra and some other BJP leaders of provoking violence.

Prasad said the matter was sub-judice and being investigated by the police.

“I wish to make it very clear that if very senior leaders have disapproved of the statements publicly, I think that means a lot. And the party with its won internal systems will surely respond to these situations,” he added.

Reviving the Emergency attack on the Congress which the BJP has done on many occasions in past as well as a counter-attack strategy, Prasad said that on the contrary, commitment to “freedom of individuals, judiciary and media” has been one of the "fundamentals" of the Modi government.

He cited several senior BJP leaders' including his ''fight against the Emergency” to also reject the criticism over the timing of the transfer of Delhi High Court judge S Muralidhar to Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Opposition has seen red in the transfer of Justice Muralidhar on a day he castigated Delhi police for not taking any actions against the BJP leaders for their hate speeches.

Prasad also evaded a direct reply to a question on the alleged role of some of the Delhi police personnel in the violence, saying police department would give an answer to this question and also conduct a probe.

“If there are some deficiencies, responsibilities will be fixed. All these things should be looked at, must be looked at. At this moment, our priority should be to ensure there is peace and harmony,” Prasad added.