Aseemanand issue: Govt attempts to divert attention from important issues, says BJP

"The timing is very apparent in a case which is so old. 2014 elections... Every time before elections such subjects are raised to divert the attention from the main issues," party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said

Trashing the purported interview of Aseemanand, an accused in Samjhauta Express and other blast cases, that RSS had "sanctioned" the terror acts, BJP today dismissed it as an attempt by the government to divert public attention from important issues before Lok Sabha polls.

"The timing is very apparent in a case which is so old. 2014 elections... Every time before elections such subjects are raised to divert the attention from the main issues," party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi told reporters.

Corruption, inflation, price rise, 'misgovernance' of Congress and "the first family (Gandhi)'s direct involvement and direct naming in certain cases as had happened recently in relation to Augusta Westland," were cited as the important issues by Lekhi.

In his purported interview with "Caravan" magazine, Aseemanand had made the claim that the RSS leadership had sanctioned the "Hindu terror conspiracy" that included the blasts in Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif.

Lekhi said Assemanand was in police custody in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, ruled by Congress at the time. Apart from this, he had told the court and written a letter that he had never given such an interview and his lawyer too was on record, she added.

"These things are going on. Every time before elections, two or three months before elections, this is what you do. Are you trying to say that your NIA (National Investigating Agency) is so incompetent that they are not able to resolve cases in 6-8 years..Your police agencies are that incompetent?" she said.

She said the interview was "fictitious" because the timeframe was when Congress was in power in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. "... Any cooking up of any sort is possible. They can say anything..."

Lekhi dismissed the tape released by the magazine purportedly containing Assemanand's conversation. "...The purported conversation we have seen.... We know what they are upto...They can say anything... Why only two months before the polls?.