Youth Congress workers stage a protest against Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala at Bhiwani on Saturday. Express photo
The opposition in Haryana has sought state BJP chief Subhash Barala’s resignation after his son Vikas Barala was arrested for stalking a senior bureaucrat’s daughter on Friday night.
Retired IAS officer and general secretary of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), RS Chaudhary, said, “The BJP had launched the campaign of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, but this case has exposed the real face of its leaders.” Chaudhary said Barala should resign on moral grounds otherwise “the INLD would not only raise the issue in the state Assembly but would also run a campaign against the incident in the entire state”. “When daughter of a senior officer is not safe, we can easily imagine the plight of the common man,” he said.
Haryana Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Kiran Choudhry said, “The BJP leaders, who gave slogan of Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao, are busy preaching others. It would have been better if they would have preached their president Barala on this.” Swaraj India party led by Yogendra Yadav has sought an independent probe into the matter. “There are apprehensions of interference in the investigations because of the post held by the accused’s father in this case. So, Barala should immediately step down,” said Rajiv Godara, spokesperson of Swaraj India’s Haryana unit and advocate in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Going a step ahead, Haryana Aam Aadmi Party president Naveen Jaihind has asked the women to be alert from the leaders of BJP, terming the latest incident as a sign of “symptoms of Romeo in the DNA of BJP”.
However, sources in the BJP has ruled out the possibility of Barala’s resignation over the issue. “The issue has not been discussed at any forum of the party because it’s a personal matter. Things would have been different had the case directly involved Subhash Barala,” said a BJP leader not wishing to be named. Asked about the opposition’s demand for resignation of Barala, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, “This is not an issue of Subhash Barala, but of a specific individual. Law will take its own course.”
“See, this case has come into my knowledge. The Chandigarh Police has lodged a case and I feel it would probe the matter properly. We have full faith in the police and low and nobody has any problem with it,” Khattar said.
Subhash Barala said, “In the case of Vikas Barala, the law has taken its own course and we respect the law. I have full faith in the law and the truth of the case would come out through the honourable court.”
