Lashing out at VHP leader Pravin Togadia for allegedly targeting a Muslim businessman for buying properties in certain areas, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today demanded action against the right-wing group leader for “vitiating the peaceful atmosphere” during elections.
“This is an extremely shocking and a shameful act and goes against the Constitution of India which provides equality and freedom for every citizen.
“The AAP also demands that the Election Commission of India should direct immediate registration of an FIR against Togadia and the Commission should take strict action against him, so that he is not allowed to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere during elections,” said a statement issued by the party here.
It also said that Narendra Modi should come clean on the issue.
“AAP demands that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi should publicly repudiate this act, take strict action against Togadia and the mob that gathered on that night and assure no such incidents will be allowed in future”.
“If no action is taken against Togadia and his followers, Modi’s complicity in such actions will become clear,” the statement added.
As per media reports, Togadia delivered a provocative speech in Bhavnagar in Gujarat in which he gave the Muslim businessmen 48 hours to vacate their houses, failing which he asked his group of followers to take forcible possession of their properties and fight a legal battle later which will go on for years.
The report claimed that the VHP leader also threatened them with violence and asked his followers to “go with stones, tyres and tomatoes” and that there was nothing to fear.
“Coming as it does on the heels of the BJP candidate from Navada Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, Giriraj Singh’s statement that those who oppose Modi will be sent to Pakistan, it shows that the BJP and its associated organisations like the VHP are trying to inflame communal feelings and communalise the situation in the country for votes,” the statement added.