New Delhi: The serial blasts in Bodh Gaya led to a political slugfest between the Congress and the BJP on Monday with Digvijay Singh targeting Narendra Modi, saying the incident happened a day after he asked BJP workers to teach a lesson to Nitish Kumar.
"Aren`t they suggesting a Muslim involvement without full investigation? Flip side of this. Amit Shah promises a Grand Temple at Ayodhya...Modi addresses Bihar BJP workers and asks them to teach Nitish a lesson. Next day Bomb Blasts at Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya...Is there a connect? I don`t know. ALLOW NIA TO COMPLETE INVESTIGATION PLEASE !," Singh said in his tweets posted one after one in the same order.
Singh`s tweets triggered instant reaction from the BJP with party`s Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad accusing Singh of politicising and communalising terrorism.
"The Congress general secretary`s "record of politicising and communalising terrorism is too well-known," he said.
Prasad said he had raised only "legitimate concerns" regarding the serial blasts about repeated intelligence inputs being ignored and that nine timer bombs could be installed by terrorists.
BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the way the terrorists are "fearlessly engaging in terror activities, our country has become a safe pasture for their nefarious acts. In such a situation, the Congress instead of fighting terror is spending all its energy in fighting its political opponents."
Singh, who is not new to controversies also attacked Modi and BJP in his tweets for "suggesting a Muslim involvement without full investigation?" into the Sunday blasts at Mahabodhi temple that left two monks injured.
Dismissing BJP`s charge, Congress said all the five posts of Singh on Twitter need to be understood in entirety.
AICC spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das also said that Congress believes that there should be "no kite flying" on such issues till the investigations into the blasts are over.
Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi hit out at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar calling his visit to the Buddhist pilgrim town after Sunday`s blasts as mere `eyewash`.
Modi, who is sitting on a 24-hour fast in protest against the terror attack, told newsmen that the serial blasts could have been averted had adequate security arrangements been put in place at Mahabodhi temple and adjoining areas after the alerts.
Kumar, however, rejected Opposition charge that his government had failed to act on alerts on possible terror strike at Bodhgaya temple and said it would make a formal request to NIA to probe the serial blasts.
The state government would also propose to the Centre to ask CISF to take over the security of the historic Mahabodhi shrine, he told reporters.
The RSS utilised the occasion to target the government over its "lack of will" to counter terrorism.
"Due to the lack of will on the part of our government to deal conclusively with the activities of terrorists with a heavy hand, the terrorists are succeeding in their nefarious designs. The need of the hour is for all to rise above partisan politics to deal with this menace decisively," Sangh`s propaganda chief Manmohan Vaidya said.
Condemning the blasts, CPI(M) said no effort should be spared to nab the culprits.
In a statement, the CPI Central Secretariat also condemned the Bodhgaya blasts and said such incidents created discord among communities.
It asked the government to take steps to maintain peace and tranquillity among the people and bring the culprits to book.
PTI
