Gauri Lankesh was killed on Tuesday (File)
The BJP Friday attacked the Congress for “politicising” the murder of Gauri Lankesh and asked the Congress government in Karnataka why it had “failed to provide security” to the journalist believed to have been involved in bringing Maoists into the mainstream. The Congress hit back, saying the BJP government in Maharashtra had not done anything to solve the murders of Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar. It asked why the Prime Minister was silent on Lankesh’s murder.
At a press conference here, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Even before the ‘i’ of investigation could start, the great leader Rahul Gandhi, who always speaks without homework, alleged publicly that the RSS and right-wing ideology was involved. He has given the verdict of ‘guilty’. In the light of this malafide comment, should we expect a fair investigation from the Congress government in Karnataka?”
Showing copies of news reports of Lankesh’s brother Indrajit Lankesh claiming that she worked for the surrender of Maoists, Prasad asked why the Siddaramaiah government had not provided her security. “Why was there such a security failure by the Congress government in Karnataka?” he said.
Hitting back at Prasad, the Congress said it was unfortunate that he was viewing the murder through a communal and political prism. Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala said that while the minister was “trying to mislead the country” by stating that rationalist M M Kalburgi’s murder has not been resolved in Karnataka, “he forgot to say the BJP government in Maharashtra has not done anything to solve the killing of Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar.”
Surjewala said: “… The BJP and the Law Minister also failed to say that the needle of suspicion in all these three murders are pointing towards Sanatan Sanstha.
On the charge that Karnataka failed to provide security to Lankesh, Surjewala said, “The foundation of this misconceived argument… unfortunately is Lankesh had some connection with Naxalites….”
The Union Home Ministry has got a report from the Karnataka government on the murder of Lankesh.
