Holding what was probably her first structured press conference in many years, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday came out strongly against the Narendra Modi government over the violence in the national capital. Sonia termed the incidents to be a “well-thought-out conspiracy” and demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“Looking at the situation, the Congress Working Committee believes that the Centre, especially the home minister, is responsible for it. Taking responsibility, the home minister should immediately resign,” Sonia Gandhi said at a press conference held at the AICC headquarters after an emergency meeting of the CWC called to discuss the riots that have engulfed northeast Delhi.
Lending added importance to her party's response to the incidents of violence, Sonia Gandhi read out the CWC resolution, saying that the “painful incidents that have occurred since Sunday last are a well-thought-out conspiracy.”
“The country witnessed the conspiracy during the elections in Delhi also. BJP leaders made provocative speeches that created an atmosphere of fear and hatred,” she said, and specifically referred to the alleged provocative statements made by BJP leader Kapil Mishra on Sunday, that are widely believed to have instigated the violence.
Sonia Gandhi hauled up the Delhi government, saying Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his administration had failed to maintain peace in the capital.
“Both governments failed to fulfil their responsibilities, which is why the capital of the nation has fallen victim to such a grave tragedy,” Sonia said.
The CWC resolution, holding the Centre and the Delhi government responsible for the present situation, posed a series of questions for them, including what Shah and Kejriwal were doing since Sunday, when the first signs of trouble in the area became visible. It asked what information the intelligence agencies had after the elections in Delhi and what action was taken on these inputs.
The CWC also asked how much police force was sent to the riot-affected areas when it was clear that the violence was spreading, and questioned why Central paramilitary forces were not called in when the situation went out of control and the police could not handle it.
“Adequate security forces must be deployed immediately to bring the situation under control. Peace committees must be formed in every Mohalla, consisting of members of all communities to ensure that there are no untoward incidents. Senior civil servants must be deployed in each district to take charge of the administration, to ensure that the administrative machinery responds to the evolving situation,” the CWC resolution read.
It said the Delhi chief minister must be visible in the affected areas and in constant communication with the people. The CWC appealed to the people of Delhi “to reject the politics of hate and do their best in healing the rift caused by these shameful events”.
It called upon Congress workers and leaders to visit the affected areas to extend all possible support to the families of those who have suffered as a consequence of violence and to help build bridges between communities.
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The Congress will hold a peace march in the capital on Wednesday. It will hold a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday and submit a memorandum on the violence in the capital to President Ram Nath Kovind.
Sonia Gandhi, meanwhile, criticised the Modi government for not holding discussions with the opposition on issues such as these.
“Vajpayeeji, whenever there was a crisis of any kind—Kashmir or any other part of the country—the first thing he used to do was to call all party leaders. Unfortunately and sadly, we have to say that ever since the Modi government has come in since 2014, as far as I know, no such meeting has ever been called. The only one was recently when the home minister called a meeting, and he called only the Delhi representatives. It was not an all-party meeting,” Sonia said.
Meanwhile, former party chief Rahul Gandhi was conspicuous by his absence at the CWC meeting. Party sources said he was travelling abroad.