BHOPAL: The opposition Congress took up in right earnest the Seoni lynching to corner the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh. Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and former chief minister Kamal Nath took the lead in putting pressure on the ruling party, albeit
through Twitter.
“Bajrang Dal (RSS) men lynched two tribal men in Seoni (MP). RSS-BJP’s agenda of hate towards Dalits and tribals is promoting violence against the tribals. We’ve to stop this agenda of hate unitedly,” Priyanka tweeted.
Back in MP, Kamal Nath demanded a CBI probe in the lynching of two Adivasi men by a mob of villagers on suspicion of cow slaughter. “With an eye on next elections, your government is spending crores of rupees on events pertaining to tribal icons. Instead of holding such events, your government should focus on ensuring safety and respect of tribals. The tribal population is most insecure in your government,’’ Nath tweeted addressing Chouhan. "In the recent killing of two tribal men in Seoni, the perpetrators are linked to BJP and associated outfits. We’re getting complaints about some accused being protected."
The tussle over tribal votes is understandable given that the adivasis constitute 21% of state’s population. Forty-seven are reserved seats for the ST category. Since 2021, the BJP government has been organizing tribal centric events and schemes to win back the tribals, who voted largely for the Congress in 2018. MP will be going to polls towards 2023 end.
Meanwhile, the local authorities announced assistance of Rs 8.25 lakh each for the two bereaved families and jobs. So far 13 men have been arrested in the case. The arrested men have been booked in two cases, including for murder and rioting and for criminally assaulting the wife of one of the deceased men.
Importantly, the lynching victims too have been booked by cops over possession of 12 kg suspected beef. The samples of the seized meat will be sent for testing in Hyderabad. One of the two deceased tribal men, identified as Sampat was arrested along with a Muslim man in October 2021 for cow slaughter.