Zee Media Bureau, New Delhi :Days after raising a storm in the Parliament demanding a discussion over the Communal Violence Bill, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that ‘communal riots in UP were artificially engineered’, adding that the communal incidents were part of a deliberate strategy to “divide the poor”.Speaking to a leading daily, Rahul said, “Communal conflict is being artificially and deliberately engineered in our country, especially in Uttar Pradesh. This is a deliberate strategy to divide the poor of this country and pit brother against brother; to prevent people from uniting to fight the true enemy – inequality, poverty and lack of opportunity.”Congress leader Digvijay Singh also came out in support of Rahul Gandhi saying that the latter’s assessment is spot on.Meanwhile, BJP hit out at Rahul accusing the Congress party of ‘being hand in glove with the Samajwadi Party.’BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that Rahul Gandhi must stop using his secularism formula which could have a negative rebounding impact on that party itself.”Rahul Gandhi should understand that he should stop using his political secularism formula. If he continues with his formula, it will be difficult for them. They should try to find a better political direction for their party. People have rejected them and still they are not able to understand that,” Naqvi said, ANI reported.Another BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said, “In Uttar Pradesh, it has been the policy of the SP and the Congress to go for vote-bank politics. The Congress and SP have both led in the name of vote-bank politics, a policy to divide the people of Uttar Pradesh.”Attacking the Congress Party, Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister of State (Independent Charge) Prakash Javadekar said, “Rahul Gandhi going into an attacking mode is a useless thing, because the Congress is the biggest party that does communal politics. Congress spreads communal poison in the country, but we try to take everyone along.”On Wednesday, after taking charge in the Lok Sabha, Rahul entered the well of the House in the Lok Sabha shouting slogans and demanding that the Bill be brought for discussion and passage.After his outburst in the Lok Sabha over the Communal Violence Bill, a discussion on rising incidents of communal violence in the country is likely to take place on Monday.”There will be a discussion on communal violence on Monday. The Chair has agreed. Two hours will be allotted for the discussion. We also want a discussion on communal violence in the country,” Minister of State for Parliament Affairs Santosh Gangwar said.Eralier, Rahul had alleged that the Opposition was not being allowed to speak in Parliament and had blamed the Speaker of being “completely one-sided, partial”.
