By IANS,
New Delhi : Crucial allies of India’s ruling coalition Wednesday condemned the lynching of a labourer from Uttar Pradesh in Mumbai, with Railways Minister Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) threatening to cancel trains in violence-hit states and the Lok Janshakti Party demanding President’s rule in Maharashtra.
“If this violence continues, we will have to consider that in future we might have to cancel trains in states where these incidents occur,” Lalu Prasad said.
Dharamdev Ramnarain Rai, 25, was lynched in a running suburban train by a gang in Mumbai Tuesday night, a day after a Bihar youth, Rahul Raj, was shot dead by the police in a Mumbai public transport bus after he attacked the conductor and fired at a passenger.
Describing the killing of Rai as brutal murder, RJD chief Lalu Prasad sought a probe by a sitting judge into the incident. “It is a brutal murder.”
He said he had taken up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
“The situation is becoming worse… The people of north India are really worried. I also spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister (Vilasrao Deshmukh). Tough action is needed,” Lalu Prasad said.
He alleged that Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and his nephew and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray were trying to break up the country.
Reacting sharply against the attacks on non-Maharashtrians and the state government’s failure to control the violence, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh said: “Maharashtra has become a Banana Republic. The north Indian parties should speak up against such incidents.”
LJP chief and central minister Ram Vilas Paswan demanded the dismissal of the Congress-led government in Maharashtra and President’s rule in the state.
He said Raj Thackeray and Bal Thackeray should be tried on charges of murder and sedition in view of their anti-north Indian campaign.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has asked the state chief secretary to probe into the lynching incident.
The incident prompted the union home ministry to seek a report from the Maharashtra government on the circumstances leading to the death and also on the security of non-Maharashtrians in the state.