Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. (BJP Twitter/Files)
The BJP on Wednesday slammed former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his long silence over the Kathua and Unnao incident and sought an apology from him for “keeping quiet” when his ministers used the word “saffron terror”. “Mr Manmohan Singh, you need to recall that Prime Minister Modi has spoken very harshly against the the unfortunate incidents of rape in Kathua and UP and called these inhuman acts shameful,” Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
In an interview to The Indian Express, Singh had hit out at Modi for his long silence over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua and the alleged rape of a teenager by a BJP MLA in Unnao. Singh had said Modi “should follow his own advice to me” and “speak more often”.
Reacting to the interview, Prasad said: “The PM has promised justice and effective action. Dr Manmohan Singh, unlike you, if Mr Modi says something, it is heard and action is taken. Today, Uttar Pradesh MLAs are in jail and the CBI probe is ordered. In Kathua too, BJP ministers have resigned immediately and effective action is going on and many of the culprits are arrested.”
With BJP deciding to to use the verdict on the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case as an election issue to consolidate its support base among the majority community, Prasad asked Singh why had he kept silent when his ministers used terms like “saffron terror”.