BJP hits out at Shinde for letter to CMs

Demands home minister be sacked

BJP today demanded that Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde be sacked immediately for asking chief ministers to ensure that no innocent Muslim is detained or questioned, saying he is attempting to divide the country on communal lines.

"If Shinde had issued the letter without associating the religion of the person it would not have been an issue. Had he used the word Indian- of any religion- then it would have been better. Shinde should be sacked with immediate effect for dividing the country on communal lines," BJP General Secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters.

He said when his party flags such sensitive issues its secular credentials are challenged but what Shinde has done is communally divisive.

Hitting out at Shinde, he said he is either ignorant or has forgotten the Constitution and asked him to recall his oath of office in which one takes the pledge of serving without any bias to any religion, caste or creed.

"It would have been fair to the country at large if he had not mentioned one particular religion in his letter," Rudy said.

Shinde had said in his letter to chief ministers that no innocent Muslim should be wrongfully detained or arrested in the name of terror.

Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu alleged that Shinde has written this letter for votebank politics and keeping the forthcoming elections in mind.

He said that Shinde's move is "unconstitutional and questionable" and demanded that the directive should be taken back immediately.