Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Gurgaon MP and Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh on Wednesday, a day after the latter wondered who had supplied arms to people taking part in a religious yatra during which communal clashes broke out in Haryana over the past two days.
After meeting Modi in his office in Parliament, Singh, a minister of state with independent charge of the statistics and programme implementation department, toned down the rhetoric.
“If weapons came and both communities had them, as seen in the video, then it is a matter of inquiry. An inquiry will reveal how the arms came and such a situation was created,” said Singh, who is elected to the Lok Sabha from Gurgaon, one of the places that witnessed clashes.
Singh claimed that he had met the Prime Minister to invite him to a foundation ceremony of an AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) in his constituency and not to discuss the communal clashes in Haryana.
On Tuesday, when the communal clashes at Nuh in Gurgaon took place, Singh had raised questions about people carrying arms in a religious yatra. “Who supplied weapons to them for the procession? Who goes to a (religious) procession carrying swords, or sticks? This is wrong,” Singh was quoted by The Indian Express newspaper as saying.
The Union minister had also said that there was provocation from the “other side” too. “I am not saying there was no provocation from the other side.”
The BJP leadership, already facing the heat of the Opposition’s protest against the violence in Manipur, sought to manage the situation in the Gurgaon suburb known as Millennium City in Delhi’s neighbourhood.
Modi and home minister Amit Shah were closeted with other ministers in what were said to be strategy meetings. BJP leaders claimed that both Modi and Shah had spoken to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and asked him to take stern action against those responsible for the clashes.
As sections of party leaders assessed the political impact of the clashes, with most indicating that communal polarisation would bring electoral dividends, the leadership sought to deal with voices like Singh and allies in the Haryana government.
Dushyant Chautala, deputy chief minister of Haryana and leader of BJP ally Jannayak Janata Party, criticised the handling of the situation by the chief minister, obliquely blaming the religious procession for the clashes.
“The yatra organisers did not give complete information about the procession to the district administration, which resulted in the violence. Strict action will follow against those responsible for the violence,” Chautala said.
Another BJP MP from Haryana, who refused to go on record, told reporters in Parliament that the incident was a “complete failure of the administration”.
Some senior BJP leaders, however, termed the statements of party and ally leaders from Haryana as a reflection of political rivalry in the state. “Rao Inderjit is unhappy these days, particularly with chief minister Khattar,” a BJP leader said.
The communal clashes cast a shadow on the Lok Sabha, too, which was disrupted over the Manipur issue for the ninth consecutive day.
At 2pm, home minister Shah was scheduled to push the bill that gives the Centre control over the posting and transfer of civil servants in AAP-ruled Delhi. Shah was present in his Parliament office but was not seen inside the House. In a surprise move, the BJP members rose in protest and sought to stall the House proceedings. Within minutes, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
While some BJP MPs claimed that their protest was to hit back at the Opposition for repeatedly stalling the House over Manipur, insiders indicated the government didn’t want to give an opportunity to the Opposition benches to raise the Haryana clashes while speaking on the Delhi bill.
