Parties using 'Ballabhgarh incident' as a political weapon: BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Meenakshi Lekhi on Wednesday criticised Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP and the RSS for increasing hate crimes in the country, and further said that people are using such incidents as a political weapon.

"Rahul Gandhi should remember Mirchpur incident which happened in 2010 under then Hooda Government in Haryana. Today they have audacity to make comments on Ballabhgarh incident. Rahul Gandhi should also remember what happened to Kalavati(the widowed Vidarbha farmer who shot to fame after Rahul Gandhi visited her in 2008 and narrated her plight in Parliament). Does he even care to know whether she is alive, surviving or dead, what happened to her family," Lekhi told ANI here.

"Infact at that time I reminded him, he is making a big hue and cry about poverty, seeing poverty for the first time almost sounded like king Siddharth. He should just go to the roof top of his own house in Tughlaq lane and will see camps. People who walk Tughlaq lane will not talk this language but do something to salvage the condition of the people. People who use it as a political weapon are the ones who use such occasions as photo ops," she added.

Two children succumbed to burn injuries after a house was set on fire allegedly by members of the Rajput community in Ballabhgarh, Haryana on Tuesday morning.

The deceased Vaibhav (2 years) and Divya (10 months) died before reaching the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.

Their mother Rekha (22) was admitted to the ICU with serious burns while her husband Jitender (26), a medical attendant at a hospital, escaped with minor burns on his hands.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has sought a report from Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on the incident and asked him to ensure peace in the region.