The BJP has pulled up to party leaders over controversial remarks on the Dadri lynching in which a Muslim man was killed over allegations of beef eating and cow slaughter. The move came a day after its ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal, warned the Centre that “fringe elements” were hurting its credibility with “irresponsible utterances”.
BJP chief Amit Shah summoned Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan, MP Sakshi Maharaj and Uttar Pradesh MLA Sangeet Som to the party office in the morning and pulled them up for “making unnecessary inflammatory remarks”. Sources said Shah’s message was directed at Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma as well, though Sharma was not present at the meeting.
According to party sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his disapproval over the statements and conveyed his displeasure to Shah. He is learnt to have directed Shah to issue a strict warning against such remarks. Sources said Modi was “upset” because these statements had hurt the BJP’s agenda in Bihar and adversely affected his attempts to bring in foreign investment. The party believes that such remarks served to vitiate Modi’s message of poverty alleviation and job creation.
“The state government should have been in the line of fire (over the Dadri incident). But the public statements of our over enthusiastic leaders have put the BJP on the defensive,” said a party leader. Such statements have provided ammunition to the opposition to attack PM Modi and the party, he said.
“The message was not just for those who were present in the meeting. It was also a warning for those who are prone to making controversial statements,” said a party leader. “Because of such irresponsible statements, the government and the party are getting embarrassed before the international community. It is affecting the investment atmosphere adversely,” Shah is learnt to have said at the meeting.
In a related incident over beef eating controversy, an independent J&K legislator who organised a beef party in Kashmir was attacked by hooligans while he was on a visit to Delhi. The miscreants threw black paint on him as he just finished his address to the mediapersons.
