Congress accuses PM Modi of trying to 'wash his hands of' his responsibilities

The Congress on Wednesday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement that the 'Centre could not be held responsible' for cases of growing intolerance, and accused him of trying to 'wash his hands of' his responsibilities while asserting that it was the government's job to maintain peace across the nation.

"It's not appropriate to try to wash of your hands by saying that the Central Government has no role to play in such incidents. Look at what happened in Mumbai, it is the BJP government which is facing all sorts of issues from its own allies. You can't have divisive forces become so strong that they over come ethos of our cultural heritage." Congress leader Sachin Pilot told ANI.

He added that at the end of the day it is the BJP government and the BJP Chief Minister that were at the helm of all affairs in Mumbai and it were their own allies that were creating problems, so how could the Prime Minister say that the Centre was not morally obliged.

Congress leader Rashid Alvi also trained his guns on the Prime Minister, saying that his statement would not be taken 'seriously' by the masses as he had clearly given his ministers the freedom to 'spread hatred'.

"Is Mahesh Sharma not from the BJP? Was any action taken on him or the Gorakhpur MP or Sadhvi Prachi? The Prime Minister says something, but has given his ministers open freedom to spread hatred. One who breaks law is guilty and the one who encourages them or helps them is also equally guilty," Alvi told ANI here.

He accused the BJP of trying to spread communalism said that the Shiv Sena creating troubles in Mumbai was the result of it.

In an interview to the Anand Bazaar Patrika, Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced his opinion clearly for the first time over the Dadri lynching and the Ghulam Ali row saying that they were 'unfortunate' incidents indeed, but the Centre could not be blamed as these issues were related to law and order and the concern of the state governments.

He also lashed out at the opposition accusing them of playing 'politics of polarization'.