Dividing country on religious, caste lines part of BJP’s agenda: Ashok Gehlot

He said the violence in state’s Karauli last month was an experiment of the BJP, and this was followed in seven other states on Ram Navami, leading to clashes.

Communal tension had broken out in Karauli on April 2 when some people pelted stones at a bike rally, taken out by Hindu organisations on Nav Samvatsar, while passing through a Muslim-dominated area.

“What happened in Karauli was their experiment, but we controlled it. Similar incidents have happened in seven states on Ram Navami, there were riots and then bulldozers were run,” he told reporters here.

Violence cannot be the answer to violence, he said.

“The RSS and the BJP have decided how to divide this country between Hindu-Muslim, religions and castes. This is part of their agenda and this is just the beginning. They will carry out bigger attacks from time to time. They will attack the chief minister, the government,” he said.

“The PM had called a meeting of MPs in Delhi. I have heard he (Narendra Modi) told them that apart from Kirodi Lal Meena, no other MP is doing anything. They were asked to do whatever Meena does, meaning ‘Dhamal Patti’ (ruckus). When violence and unrest take place, development and governance get affected,” he said.

Meena, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP, has been staging demonstrations on various issues against the government in the state.

Targeting the BJP over the demolition of temples in Alwar’s Rajgarh, a BJP-run municipality, Gehlot said the proposal was passed by the saffron party board there and then they blamed the government.

“They (BJP) have 34 out of the 35 councillors in Rajgarh. They passed the proposal and demolished the temple. They only want to polarise and defame the Congress. The public should support the truth, only then will they learn a lesson,” he said.