The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Saturday demanded that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar be "immediately sacked" for failing to protect the lives of innocent people.
The party also demanded dissolution of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state.
"Despite having knowledge and widespread apprehension of trouble and violence, the BJP government and the Chief Minister of Haryana did not take adequate preventive measures. This serious dereliction of duty by the state government created a situation of complete breakdown of law and order," the CPI-M Politburo said in a statement slamming the state government.
The CPI-M's remarks came a day after 31 people died in the violence that erupted in Haryana's Panchkula town after a CBI court convicted Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case.
Dera chief supporters went berserk and set vehicles ablaze and damaged properties in Panchkula.
Referring to media reports that Khattar and BJP MLAs had visited the "Godman" to seek his blessings, the CPI-M said: "It reflects the sympathetic manner in which the saffron party sought to deal with the situation."
The party also said that this was the third occasion when the BJP-led state government had failed to protect the lives of innocent people and public and private properties.
Citing the Haryana High Court directions to the state government to take all required measures, the CPI-M said that "it had expressed apprehensions due to the state government's track record in the past".
The party said: "Clearly the state government in Haryana has lost its authority to continue."
"The state government and the Chief Minister cannot remain in office. And Chief Minister Khattar must be immediately sacked," the CPI-M said.
--IANS
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