Dadri lynching: BJP asks leaders to avoid making controversial statements

New Delhi: With party leaders making controversial comments, BJP on Tuesday asked its leaders to maintain restraint in making statements that it feared may flare up communal passions.

BJP's caution came in the midst of statements by its leaders like Sangeet Som and Sakshi Maharaj besides Union minister Sanjeev Balyan over the Dadri lynching incident.

BJP also blamed the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh for giving a political colour to the lynching incident in its bid to divert public attention away from the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

According to sources, the party leadership has asked BJP members to adopt restraint and not make any statements that may flare up tempers and communal passion.

Some of its leaders, including controversial MLA Som, an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots case, besides Union Ministers Balyan and Mahesh Sharma have made certain remarks that have fuelled a political row over the incident.

Sources add that the party has told them not to make provocative statements that may disturb communal harmony while visiting the area.

A report by UP Police has sought action against Union Minister Mahesh Sharma and BJP MLA Som for alleged violation of prohibitory orders in Bishada village where a 50-year-old Muslim was killed on rumours of his family eating beef.

The report filed by police with the Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate recommended filing of FIRs against the two leaders, besides a BSP MLA.

It said the leaders were given permission only to meet the family of the victim and not for addressing public meetings in view of the sensitive situation prevailing in the area.

Som, the MLA from Muzaffarnagar, had on Sunday said they were capable of giving a "befitting reply" if "innocents were framed" in the lynching case.

"Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is trying to divert public attention away from the deteriorating law and order situation in the state by seeking to convert the incident into a political row. He is trying to cover up the failures of his government," a BJP leader said.

BJP MP Sakashi Maharaj today stoked a fresh controversy in the wake of the Dadri lynching case, saying that Hindus consider cow as their mother, and used the analogy of a terrorist who attacks the country getting killed in the process.

Meanwhile, describing the Dadri lynching incident as a "well-planned conspiracy", UP government today blamed BJP with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav saying some forces doing politics on communal lines were conspiring to defame his government.