News Brief
Haryana CM Khattar Refuses To Condemn Rohtak BJP MP Who Made Inflammatory Remarks And Even Threatened Violence
- BJP MP from Rohtak Arvind Sharma had made inflammatory remarks last week saying 'if any eye is raised against Manish Grover then that eye will be gouged out hand will be chopped off.'
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar (Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar didn’t condemn Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Rohtak Arvind Sharma who made inflammatory remarks while defending former Haryana minister and Rohtak MLA Manish Grover.
On Saturday (6 November), Sharma had threatened that “eye will be gouged out and hand chopped off” if anybody tried to target Grover.
“There is no doubt that the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat was won because of Manish Grover…If any eye is raised against Manish Grover then that eye will be gouged out and if any hand is raised then that hand will be chopped off. (We) will not spare,” Sharma had said while addressing a gathering of protestors in Rohtak. He alleged that Grover was being targeted by Congress because he ensured defeat of Deepender Hooda in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Sharma, a former two time Congress MP from Karnal, had joined the BJP just before 2019 general election and was given the ticket to contest from Rohtak.
On Friday (5 November), Grover had gone to a temple in Kiloi Village with band of his supporters to listen to speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was addressing from the Kedarnath temple complex in Uttarakhand.
On hearing about Grover’s presence in the village, hundreds of farmers turned up and gheraoed the temple and staged protest against the BJP leaders for their stand in support of the three farm laws. Garhi-Sample-Kiloi assembly constituency where the village falls is being represented by former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda since 2005.
“Three youths approached me who said this is Manish Grover, who is responsible for Deepender Hooda’s defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and this is a right time to teach him a lesson. My colleagues and party workers asked me to leave the temple as the situation got tense but I refused. With the support of my party workers and Khap representatives, we returned home safely,” Grover said recalling the events of Friday.
The standoff came to an end after several hours of negotiation between the protesting farmers, police officials and local administration. Grover and others were then escorted out of the complex. After reaching Rohtak, the BJP leaders raised a furore followed by public gathering of party workers in the city. Sharma had also joined Grover and made the controversial statements.
CM Khattar, however, didn’t condemn Sharma for the same. When asked about his comments, he said that mere verbal comments should invite less reaction and instead it would be better if questions are asked to those who have actually cut off hands and feet.
Meanwhile, Rohtak police have registered a case against 200 unnamed people for confining Grover and other BJP workers in Kiloi.
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