Ram Rahim verdict: Khattar should be sacked, says Shashi Tharoor

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday slammed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for his government's failure to stop the widespread violence that broke out after the conviction of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a rape case.

Tharoor said Khattar should be sacked if he doesn't resign in the wake of large-scale violence in his state that left 31 persons dead and 250 injured on Friday.

"Ultimately it is the Chief Minister and his cabinet who are responsible for law and order in their state. It is complete failure of the Khattar government and he should be sacked," Tharoor said.

"Where was Haryana government? How could they allow people to gather? Everybody could see that they were preparing for violence then why didn't the Haryana government impose Section 144 (of the CrPC) and control the situation. The management failed and the buck has to stop somewhere. Enough is enough," Tharoor said.

Tharoor told mediapersons here on the sidelines of Mountain Echoes Literary Festival, that Khattar has "completely failed and if he was not sacked it would send out a very bad message".

"You have a Chief Minister who has failed to maintain law and order..., there have been so many deaths, and if he is allowed to remain in his seat it will not augur well for our country," he said.

Earlier in the day, he addressed a session titled "Inglorious Empire" at Royal University of Bhutan as a part of the ongoing literature festival.

After a CBI court in Haryana's Panchkula town on Friday held the Dera chief guilty of rape and sexual exploitation, his followers went berserk setting ablaze vehicles and damaging properties. Following which, the security forces opened fire to control the mob.