The BJP has been blaming Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor behind instigating the violent attacks. (File)
As migrants and non-Gujarati continue to flee from parts of Gujarat after mob attacks, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani slammed Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying it were his party workers who had incited violence and asked if the latter had no shame.
Taking to Twitter, the Gujarat said the Congress president needs to take action against his own members. “Tweeting is not the solution, taking action is! But will he act?”
“Congress President needs to be ashamed of tweeting this when his own party is inciting violence against migrants,” Rupani said after Gandhi tweeted against the attacks on people from UP and Bihar after a minor was raped allegedly by a labourer from Bihar.
Following targeted mob attacks at migrants after the rape of a minor, Gandhi had Monday said that targeting migrant workers in Gujarat is “completely wrong” and he is totally against it. He had tweeted that the root cause of violence is the closure of factories and unemployment in Gujarat.
The BJP has been blaming Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor for instigating the violent attacks at people from Hindi-belt in the state. Rupani said his government is “working hard to ensure trust and confidence among all citizens that they are safe and secure in Gujarat”.
Thakor, for his part, said his detractors wanted to suppress his popularity. “Most of the attackers are from Thakor community… But this allegation is an effort to suppress the popularity that I have gained with my outfit in 16 states. I am being defamed. Not a single case has been filed against either me or my people. Our truth will win,” Thakor was quoted as saying by PTI.
After the rape of the 14-year old, Thakor had demanded justice and said: “These people who have come from outside, they commit crime, they beat up common villagers and they go back to their state. Such people have jobs here in Maruti and other companies but our people do not have jobs here.”
Amid the blame game, migrants from UP and Bihar continue to leave the state in fear of targeted attacks against them. Shyam Singh Thakur, president of the Uttar Bhartiya Vikas Parishad, told PTI, “More than 60,000 people have left Gujarat, and those who are leaving now are only those who had decided earlier to go back home. There is no more compulsion and threat to them to leave the state.”