Fake encounters carried out to raise Modis profile: Digvijay

Gujarat had carried out fake encounters to raise Chief Minister Narendra Modis profile so that he becomes a hero in the eyes of people who believe acts of terror are done by Muslims, Congress leader Digvijay Singh alleged today.

Responding to media queries after a general body meeting of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee here, he alleged that there is not only one, but six fake encounters done by Gujarat government. The unfortunate part was that the fake encounters had taken place because of wrong information fed by the the then joint director of Intelligence Bureau in collusion with Gujarat police, he claimed.

In this context, Singh referred to a case of Sadik Jamal which has not come into the notice of media when IB on record handed him over to Gujarat police, which allegedly killed him a few days later and showed it as an encounter and made out a story Jamal had planned to kill Modi.

The whole idea of Gujarat police, with (the then) Joint Director of IB working together, was only to raise the profile of Narendra Modi so that he becomes a hero in the minds of all those who believe that acts of terror are being done only by Muslims, Singh alleged. He demanded that if Gujarat police officers are in jail because of fake encounters, the then Joint Director of IB if he is part of the conspiracy should also be charge sheeted.

Cong begins process to pick LS candidates in Karnataka. The Congress in Karnataka, meanwhile, has initated a process to identify party candidates in all the Lok Sabha segments in the state, where it is targetting to win 20-25 seats. At a general body meeting of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, KPCC President G Parameshwara said observers have also been appointed in each of the 28 constituencies.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, said while the party would strive to win all the 28 seats, it must win 20-25.

(compared to a mere six in the previous polls in 2009). AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh, in charge of party affairs in the state said coordination committee would be constituted soon with the mandate to resolve contentious issues between the party and the Government in Karnataka.

He said he would like such committees to be formed at district levels as well. Singh, a former Madhya Pradesh Chief Ministers, advised the Chief Minister to create a cell to look into the election promises, setting a roadmap with deadlines to implement all those assurances.

He noted that the partys vote share had gone up by a mere 1.5 per cent in the Assembly elections, adding, we must go up to 40 per cent (in the Lok Sabha elections).