Calling reports about "terrorists and criminals" having links with the BJP a matter of concern for the country, Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda on Saturday said the saffron party needs to introspect as to how such elements were finding their way into the party fold.
Highlighting the report that Riyaz Attari, one of the accused in the murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal at Udaipur, was linked to the BJP, the parliamentarian from Haryana asked the ruling party to "form an internal probe committee and also call a national executive meet "to introspect". "We feel sorry that the people who conspire to damage the country are getting a place in the BJP. It is a national party and is in power in the country. For the BJP, it should be a matter of deep introspection," Hooda told reporters.
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"I would rather say that the BJP should form an internal probe committee to find out how these people are finding their way into the BJP. The party should also call a national executive meeting to brainstorm over the issue," he added. Citing the cases of terrorist Talib Hussain, who was arrested in Jammu and Kashmir; Tariq Ahmed Mir, a sarpanch from Jammu and Kashmir arrested on terror charge, one Dhruv Saxena held in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly spying for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Hooda said all of them were found to have links with the BJP, with some of them even being the party's office-bearers.
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He said the BJP leaders say they have no idea how such people found their way into the party. "If they are not successful in keeping their house safe, then how would they succeed in keeping the country safe from terrorists?" the Congress leader asked. Congress believes that there should be no politics on the issues of terrorism and national security and everyone's opinions should be sought to keep the country safe, he said.
"Our party also believes that the ideology of hatred can be won over by the ideology of patriotism. The way the reports of terrorists and criminals connected with the BJP are coming out one after the other, we believe that it is our responsibility to pose some questions," he added.
Hooda also questioned the increasing incidents of drugs being seized from ports in Gujarat. AICC in-charge from Gujarat, Raghu Sharma, said the Udaipur incident is a blot on humanity and accused the BJP of playing politics. He questioned the BJP for inducting the man accused of murdering Kanhaiya Lal as the office-bearer of its minority wing there.
"The victim, the murderer, the people who are protesting in Rajasthan are all from BJP...How did the accused become the office-bearer of its minority wing? Has the BJP stopped screening its members (before induction)? Can anybody become an office-bearer of the BJP? It is a matter of shame," Sharma said.
