Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 20: BJP today raised the issue of commuting of death sentence of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts, and asked Congress why their mercy petitions were not taken up for a long time.
Speaking to reporters at a function, BJP national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi sought answers from Congress saying Priyanka Gandhi had met the convicts in jail and her mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had written a letter for their release.
“They (Congress) should answer when Priyanka Gandhi went to them (the convicts) and met them in the jail.
“You should ask Sonia Gandhi when she wrote letters for their release and pardon. SC (Supreme Court) had already announced its order then,” she said, replying to a question over the politics being done over Rajiv Gandhi’s convicts.
“After the death penalty was awarded by the SC, the mercy petition went to President of India and the Government did not act for a longer time. It was pending from 2004 and no action was taken on this,” she said.
Asked why BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was not making any statement over the issue, she asked, “Why should Modi speak on this as he is a Chief Minister and has nothing to do with it. It was a government of Congress which awarded punishment. Congress violated the SC order. It is Congress who has to answer to the people of the country.”
At a seminar on Article 370, Lekhi spoke about the various provisions of the Constitution of India which have not become applicable in Jammu and Kashmir due to Article 370.
She made an impassioned appeal to the gathering to introspect on what benefits the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir got because of this Article.
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