Slugfest between Congress, BJP over Alwar lynching

New Delhi: A major political slugfest erupted between the Congress and the BJP over the alleged delay in giving treatment to a man thrashed by a mob on suspicion of cow smuggling, which led to his death in Rajasthan’s Alwar. Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that hatred had replaced humanity in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “brutal” New India, while two Union ministers hit back at him, accusing him of being a “merchant of hate” and of indulging in “vulture politics”.

The lynching issue was also raised in Parliament by Alwar MP Karan Singh Yadav, triggering protests from BJP members. Mr Yadav, whose adjournment motion on these issues was rejected by the Chair, raised it during Zero Hour and said it was the fourth such incident in the state. The Alwar MP insisted that those who claimed to be “gau rakshaks” (cow protectors) were behind this murder and amid protests by some BJP members, also attacked the state police for wasting time in taking the victim to hospital, leading to his death.

Last week, 28-year-old Rakbar Khan was allegedly lynched in Rajasthan’s Alwar district by a group of people who accused him of smuggling cows. Citing a media report, the Congress president tweeted on Monday: “This is Modi’s brutal ‘New India’ where humanity is replaced with hatred and people are crushed and left to die,” forcing a reaction from two Central ministers.

Mr Gandhi also tweeted: “Policemen in #Alwar took 3 hrs to get a dying Rakbar Khan, the victim of a lynch mob, to a hospital just 6 km away. Why?

They took a tea-break enroute.” The media report cited by Mr Gandhi claimed the policemen stopped for tea and took the cows to a shelter before taking Khan to the hospital.

Hitting at the Congress president, Union minister Piyush  Goyal tweeted: “Stop jumping with joy every time a crime happens, Mr Rahul Gandhi. The state has already assured strict and prompt action. You divide society in every manner possible for electoral gains and then shed crocodile tears. Enough is enough. You are a MERCHANT OF HATE.” His remark echoed the attack on Narendra Modi by Sonia Gandhi in the 2007 Gujarat Assembly poll campaign when the then Congress chief used the phrase “maut ka saudagar” (merchant of death) to target the then chief minister.

Mr Goyal’s Cabinet colleague, Ms Smriti Irani, accused Mr Gandhi of doing “vulture politics” and claimed that not a single instance goes by where he doesn’t attempt to rupture social bonds for electoral gains.

“Rahul Gandhi’s family presided over the worst form of hate in 1984, Bhagalpur, Nellie and many other instances. It is shameful that he is doing the same through vulture politics,” she tweeted.