Congress demands sacking of Home Minister over Delhi violence

NEW DELHI: A day after violent clashes broke out between the police and the protesting farmers in the heart of the national capital after the latter's proposed tractor rally on Republic Day went awry, the Congress on Wednesday demanded that Home Minister Amit Shah should be sacked for the violence, alleging that there is a concerted effort to demean and malign the farmers' protest.

Addressing a press conference here, Congress General Secretary RandeepSurjewala said, "If conspirators infiltrated the farmers' agitation, what were the intelligence agencies and the Home Ministry doing? Is it not a failure of the Modi government? The Home Minister should be held responsible directly."

The chief spokesperson of the Congress said the "Home Minister should be sacked for the failure of the intelligence agencies and the Home Ministry".

The Congress also asked why no FIR has been lodged against Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu, who has been accused of instigating the farmers to hoist a pennant at the Red Fort on Tuesday. The party said that his photographs with senior BJP functionaries indicate towards a conspiracy, but only the farmers leaders were booked following the ruckus on Tuesday. Since Independence, this is the first time that the government has failed to secure the historic Red Fort from the hands of hooligans, and the presence of Deep Sidhu indicates that there was a conspiracy as the police allowed the mob to enter the premises, Surjewala alleged.

The Delhi Police have named BharatiyaKisan Union (BKU) spokesperson RakeshTikait and other farmer leaders in their FIR filed over the violence that broke out in various parts of the national capital on Tuesday. The FIR charges them with breach of the No Objection Certificate (NOC) that was issued regarding the tractor rally.

The Delhi Police have registered as many as 22 FIRs till now in various districts over the violent protest by the agitating farmers on Tuesday for rioting, damage to public property and assault on public servants with deadly weapons.

The police are also analysing video footages to identify the protesters who took law into their hands, leaving as many as 86 policemen injured. (IANS)

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