By IANS,
Lucknow: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh Saturday demanded an enquiry against Congress leader Digvijay Singh for his remarks that Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare had spoken to him about threats to his life from Hindu groups just hours before he was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attack.
“Why Karkare telephoned him?…And why Digvijay Singh remained silent over the issue for over two years…Digvijay’s statements appear to be a part of a big conspiracy. I demand the central government to order an enquiry against Digvijay,” Singh told reporters here.
“It really needs to be probed that on whose behalf Digvijay is giving such statements. It demands an immediate enquiry by the central government,” he added.
Earlier Saturday, Digvijay Singh said: “I had spoken to Hemant Karkare only two hours before he was killed. He had told me how his family and his own life were constantly threatened from people who were annoyed by his investigations in the Malegaon blasts.”
Terming the Congress general secretary’s comments as “unfortunate” and “disgraceful”, Rajnath Singh clarified that he had never raised any question on Karkare’s integrity regarding his role in probing the alleged involvement of some Hindu groups in the Malegaon blast.
“I can never raise any question on the integrity of national heroes like Karkare,” said the BJP leader.
“Our party has never linked any religion with terrorism. For, the BJP believes that a terrorist is only a terrorist and cannot be linked with any religion or caste. It is only the Congress that can do such a thing…Just to malign the image of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the Congress is linking it with terrorism as a part of its vote bank politics,” he added.
Referring to the state’s assembly elections in 2012, Rajnath Singh said: “We have already prepared the action plan for the upcoming elections. A final shape will be given to it (action plan) Jan 5 and Jan 6.”