New Delhi: Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who has been targeting PM Modi and the BJP over crimes against women in strife-torn Manipur, asked Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot late Friday night to take quick action in the shocking case of stripping of a Tribal woman.
“Rahulji called up the chief minister late last night and asked him to take quick action in the Pratapgarh case. He categorically mentioned that the culprits should be arrested immediately and receive stringent punishment,” a senior AICC functionary said on condition of anonymity. Rahul’s call had an impact and led to the arrest of the culprits Saturday morning following which the chief minister will also visit the victim.
“I have asked the chief minister to visit the victim. The ADGP Crime too has reached the spot. This is not to send any political message. The Congress is committed to the safety of all women in the state and will not tolerate any crime against them. The government has to curb all such crimes and take quick action in case of such incidents,” AICC in charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa told this channel.
“Rahulji is generally very concerned over any such incident anywhere,” he said. The AICC in charge slammed the BJP for trying to politicize the Pratapgarh incident. “No one will be allowed to play politics over crimes against women. The BJP took no action on crimes against women in Manipur and are now trying to play politics over the Pratapgarh incident ahead of the polls,” said Randhawa.
The Congress leader was referring to a video which had surfaced in Manipur after two months of gang rape of two women and enraged the entire nation. Rahul, too had slammed the Centre and the Manipur government over the reported video, following which the BJP had targeted the opposition party by questioning the crimes against women in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
According to the Congress leader, the Rajasthan government took action in the Pratapgarh case in just six hours without doing any comparisons with the BJP-ruled states. “The state government did not take 60 days to file an FIR like in Manipur. The chief minister did not question the timing of the video like the BJP did in Manipur,” said Randhawa responding to the charges made by BJP spokesperson Jaiveer Shergil who questioned the alleged double standards of the Congress government in Rajasthan.
“When is the Congress doing a protest showing anguish for the horrific crime against a tribal woman in Pratapgarh,” said Shergill who is a former Congress leader. AICC sources said Rahul was upset over the Pratapgarh incident which resulted from a family feud and therefore called up the chief minister last night.
Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra welcomed the quick arrest of the culprits in the Pratapgarh case and the state government’s announcement that the guilty will be prosecuted in a fast-track court. She expressed the hope that the culprits involved in the savage crime will get stringent punishment, saying that quick justice in such cases was a must.
Also read: Tribal woman allegedly beaten, paraded naked by in-laws in Rajasthan sparks outrage; seven arrested
