SP questions Shinde letter's timing

Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party Tuesday questioned the timing of Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's letter asking states to ensure that innocent Muslims are not charged with terror.

Prisons Minister and party spokesman Rajendra Chowdhary alleged that the central government was indulging in "minority vote bank politics".

"Though I have very little to say on the letter written by the home minister, I am sure people will see through their game plan," he said.

"These people (Congress) were sitting mum when Muslim youths were being falsely implicated under terror charges," he added.

He said the SP had always raised its voice against attempts to implicate Muslims and others under false charges.

"We have raised these points earlier also and will continue to work towards a solution in this direction but our aim is not political and largely hinges on the socialist ethos of justice for all," he said.

Earlier in the day, the party's Maharashtra unit demanded a re-investigation of Pune's German Bakery terror attack by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in view of claims by blast convict Mirza Himayat Baig.

Baig, awarded the death penalty, has approached the Bombay High Court pleading that he has been falsely implicated in the case by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad and the matter should be probed again by the NIA, said Maharashtra Samajwadi Party general secretary A.Q. Choudhary.

Shinde's letter has invited sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which accused him of wooing Muslims ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.