Dadri lynching being raised to gain in Bihar polls: Kalraj Mishra

Says the issue was being constantly raised to gain sympathy of some people

Observing that the Dadri lynching was not a 'planned' incident, Union Minister Kalraj Mishra today characterised the beef controversy as a "non-issue" and that some people were making it an issue to gain mileage in the Bihar state elections.

Mishra, Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, told a press conference, "The beef controversy is a non-issue. Some people are making it an issue to divert the attention. They are making it an issue for the Bihar polls and want to take revenge on us."

He said the issue was being constantly raised to gain "sympathy of some people".

He, however, said that the lynching incident had indeed taken place. "Yes, the incident took place and it is sad. Some people term it planned and some others say unplanned. But according to my understanding, it was an unplanned incident."

Mishra also blamed the state government and said according to the Union Home Ministry, the Akhilesh Yadav government had provided the Centre with "twisted facts" about the incident.

"Even for the Muzaffarnagar riots, it was now almost proved that the state government was at fault," he said.

When asked about BJP MLA and anti-beef campaign leader Sangeet Singh Som's links with a meat export firm, Mishra said he was not directly involved.

"This issue came up while giving tickets to Som. He only had a land. We had a detailed examination of the documents and only then we offered him a ticket. People are raising an unnecessary matter," he said.