Rahul Gandhi to visit riot-hit Rohtak

Amid the ongoing politics over the recent violence during the Jat agitation for reservation, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will visit the riot-hit Rohtak and other districts of Haryana soon.

Gandhi will visit the state within next three days, former state home minister and Congress leader Subhash Batra said on Tuesday.

Batra said the Congress vice-president was concerned over the loss of property in the state during the stir and would meet businessmen and shopkeepers, who lost their source of livelihood.

Confirming Gandhi’s proposed visit, Haryana former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Rahul was coming to Rohtak to visit the people who were affected by violence.

BJP QUESTIONS HIS VISIT

Meanwhile, BJP MLA from Rohtak Manish Grover alleged Gandhi was coming to add fuel to the fire. Holding the Congress responsible for the riots, he said, “Where was Rahul Gandhi when the state was burning? He should have had come earlier if he had to, but he did not do so because it was all a conspiracy of the Congress to burn the entire state.” Grover said that demonstrating for reservation was alright but burning shops and killing people was inhumane.

Several Congress leaders, including Shadi Lal Batra, had earlier claimed that they wanted to visit Rohtak when riots were happening but were ordered by deputy commissioner DK Behera to go back from the outskirts of the town.

Countering their claims, Grover said: “DC did not order Congress men to go back, but the public did. Public knows that the Congress was behind these riots and they chose not to accept them in their city.”

Meanwhile, local shopkeepers too are not interested to meet Gandhi as they called it another ‘photo opportunity’ of a politician over their burnt shops.

A showroom owner in Model Town, who requested anonymity, said, “I’m not interested in opening my burnt showroom to entertain these politicians, no matter how big they are. Had they been concerned, they would have helped us when our shops were burning, but our small town was out of their agenda at that time.”