LUCKNOW: The opposition Samajwadi Party and BSP in Uttar Pradesh slammed the BJP on Thursday over the incident in which a tribal man was urinated upon in Madhya Pradesh.
The urination incident took place in Sidhi district of the BJP-ruled state. The accused was arrested after a purported video of the act surfaced online and charged under several provisions of the law, including the stringent National Security Act.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday washed the feet of the tribal man while sitting on the floor of his official residence in Bhopal to express sorrow over the incident and apologised to him.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the chief minister was indulging in "theatrics" and a "political stunt" ahead of the assembly elections.
"The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh calling the victim of the urination incident from Sidhi district to his official residence in Bhopal, about 600 kilometres away, and washing his feet in front of the camera seems to be less of government remorse and more of theatrics and politics of electoral interest.
Is such an exhibition appropriate," she asked in a tweet in Hindi.
"Since the elections to the Madhya Pradesh assembly are around the corner, the government's uneasiness is natural. But the SC, ST, backward and Muslim communities, as well as others in the state will definitely demand an account of the extent to which their lives have suffered due to inflation and unemployment," Mayawati added.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav said the incident was another shameful chapter in the history of Dalit people.
"The demonic, heinous act by a BJP worker on a tribal in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district is another shameful chapter in the history of centuries of oppression on the Dalit society. Is this the only achievement of 18 years of the BJP rule in MP? Arrogance will drown the BJP," Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.
