Vote-bank politics delaying Kanhaiya Lal murder case trial, says Shah in Rajasthan

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot got into a war of words on June 30 after Mr. Shah claimed that the accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case would have been hanged by now had the Congress government in the State set up a special court to try the case.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot got into a war of words on June 30 after Mr. Shah claimed that the accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case would have been hanged by now had the Congress government in the State set up a special court to try the case.

Lal, a tailor, was brutally killed in Udaipur in June 2022, for allegedly insulting Islam. The NIA filed a chargesheet against 11 accused in the case in December.

Hitting back at Home Minister, Mr. Gehlot accused the Home Minister of “lying” and said “people in responsible positions should not politicise terrorism”. He alleged that the killers of Lal were active members of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Addressing a public rally in the Udaipur city of poll-bound Rajasthan, Mr. Shah also targeted Rahul Gandhi by alleging that if Mr. Gandhi becomes Prime Minister, “corruption and scams will become India’s destiny” while fraudsters would go behind bars if Narendra Modi is re-elected the Prime Minister.

He also called the Gehlot government number one in corruption and took a dig at the recent Opposition meet in Patna.

Mr. Shah claimed that the punishment to the killers of Kanhaiya Lal – Riyaz Attari and Ghous Mohammed – was delayed because of vote-bank politics.

“Who did not give security to Kanhaiya? Whose police remained silent till he died? You did not even want to catch (the accused), the NIA [National Investigation Agency] caught them. And don’t lie Gehlotji that the chargesheet has not been filed, I say with authority that the chargesheet was filed on December 22, 2022. The task of setting up a special court is yours (State government), so that the accused are punished soon,” the Home Minister said.