New Delhi: ThePrint has learned that the Congress, facing flak for inviting Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP) chief Chaudhary Lal Singh to attend the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi, is reconsidering his participation.
Singh, a former minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coalition government led by Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu and Kashmir, was forced to resign from the party for allegedly supporting the accused in the 2018 Kathua rape and murder case.
The invitation is being re-examined after Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah questioned the Congress’s move. journey This should not become an opportunity for politicians to “whitewash” themselves.
“Congress has to see whether some people are joining journey To whiten myself. We have not forgotten the politicians who tried to protect the rapists and blame the victims. It’s wrong that these politicians would use journey To appear secular, Told Omar Abdullah is in Srinagar on Wednesday.
In 2018, Singh participated in a rally organized by the Hindu Ekta Manch in support of the alleged perpetrators of the rape and murder of an eight-year-old Bakarwal girl in Kathua. Singh, who at the time denied his support for the rapists, later said that he was only demanding a CBI investigation If.
Singh, who was once a Congress MP, quit the party soon after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to join the BJP. In 2018, after he was ousted from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and BJP coalition government and sidelined within the party, he quit the BJP and founded the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP).
Last year, DSSP’s Rajinder Singh Babbi – also Singh’s brother – fought and Won Kathua Municipal Council elections as an independent candidate, wresting control of the civic body from the BJP. He won a majority on the 21-member council in the necessary elections after the incumbent president resigned.
Speaking to ThePrint, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera neither confirmed nor denied Singh’s involvement journey, “We will see. We have read all the statements and are looking into the same.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) Jammu and Kashmir in-charge Rajni Patil told ThePrint, “We journey, Bharat Jodo Yatra is our program. We don’t know whether he is coming or not.
However, Congress sources involved in coordinating the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir told ThePrint that Singh’s presence journey “are taken into account.
The issue first drew criticism from Deepika Pushkar Nath, the Congress spokesperson in Jammu and Kashmir, and also the Kathua rape victim’s lawyer at the time. Nath after this resigned From the party on Tuesday.
Speaking in Kathua last week, Singh had announced that his party and its workers would welcome Rahul Gandhi journey As it enters Kathua.
“All parties were contacted. Our party, our people were also contacted. they asked us to participate in their journey,” he Told, “We all should try to unite India. Whichever party gives the slogan of Bharat Jodo, it is in favor of India, not against it. Our Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party has a clear vision for the betterment of the Dogra and the country.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti spoke on the issue in Srinagar on Wednesday. Told, “The Congress party has fought not only to liberate India but also to make it a secular and democratic country, which the BJP is trying to destroy. So, Rahul Gandhi has come out and thousands of people are joining him. He is trying to reconnect the fabric of the country. So it doesn’t matter who is with them. what matters is the purpose Travel,
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Former Congress MP, sacked BJP minister
Singh started his political career as a youth leader with the Congress and was first elected as MLA from Basohli constituency in Jammu and Kashmir in 1996 and 2002. He was then inducted as the Minister of Health and Medical Education in the Congress-PDP government (2002–2002). 2004). Subsequently, he was elected to the Lok Sabha twice in 2004 and 2009 on a Congress ticket.
He broke ties with the Congress in 2014 after being denied a ticket, and joined the BJP.
Following his alleged support of the accused in the Kathua incident, he was forced to resign as a minister from the PDP-BJP government. He finally quit BJP in 2019 and started DSSP.
(Editing by Zinnia Ray Chowdhury)
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