Will discuss Vanzara issue in Parliament if Khemka also taken up: BJP

Venkaiah Naidu said that though state-related matters were not discussed in Parliament, his party was willing to discuss the issue of Gujarat police officer D G Vanzara if the charges levelled by Ashok Khemka are also taken up.

New Delhi: BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said that though state-related matters were not discussed in Parliament, his party was willing to discuss the issue of Gujarat police officer D G Vanzara if the charges levelled by Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka are also taken up.

He said the ruling party had become silent on discussing allegations made by Vanzara because it felt a discussion on Khemka would be embarassing for it, a charge which was dismissed by Congress. "The practice in Parliament has been not to discuss state-related matters. If they want to have a change of it, let there be a consensus on this. Let us discuss every state issue including the issue of Haryana small farmer. That is the stand taken by BJP," Naidu told reporters outside Parliament. He said that some people in Parliament just want to raise issues about states when it suits them and oppose discussing state issues when it doesn`t. "That`s why we have taken this stand, if you want to discuss IPS (officer Vanzara), then discuss IAS also - Khemka of Haryana and then move forward. For that, immediately, the other side became silent because they know if the debate goes on....It`ll become embarassing for the ruling party," Naidu said. Dismissing the charge, Congress leader Renuka Chowdhary said that there was no parallel between the two issues. "It is quite a bizarre comparison. We are talking about a police officer who has written categorically against a chief minister. You are willing to make Robert Vadra, a chief minister so be it, we don`t mind," she said. Chowdhary said that the issue related to Vanzara`s letter had been raised several times on Wednesday and added that it was ridiculous to compare the two issues. On Vanzara`s letter, Chowdhury said the "man had accused the Chief Minister of dictating cold blooded, pre-meditated murder". Another Congress MP P L Poonia said the Tulsiram Prajapati case was a seious issue and demanded that Chief Minister Narendra Modi should resign and legal action should be taken against him and former Gujarat Minister Amit Shah. Poonia, who is also the chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes, said that he had also sought resposes of CBI and governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan on the issue. Vanzara (59), a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) rank officer, suspended and behind the bars in a string of alleged fake encounter cases, had resigned from the service on Septermber one, accusing the Modi government of having failed to protect the jailed police officers who fought against "Pakistan-inspired terrorism". The Gujarat government has not yet accepted the resignation of Vanzara. PTI