The BJP has concluded that the Mumbai firing incident, in which 11 Dalits were killed, is unlikely to create an anti-Dalit image for it. With general elections likely sooner than later, party leaders have been anxiously counting the political cost of the firing.
The conclusion: Whatever blame accrues will go to the Shiv Sena which heads the coalition government in Maharasthra.
During discussions at the BJPs national executive meeting over the weekend, some leaders criticised the BJPs ministers in the coalition government for not rushing to the spot immediately after the desecration of the Ambedkars statue.
The situation could have been controlled, they said, if any of the senior party ministers had reached the spot in time, they contended, pointing out that the firing took place about two hours after the desecration was first noticed.
They also pointed out that no senior police officer of the rank of deputy commissioner reached the spot. The fact that a BJP MLA was one of the first few to reach the spot was no substitute for a high ranking official or a minister, they held.
The observation was an indirect indictment of Maharashtra deputy chief minisiter Gopinath Munde, who also holds the home portfolio.
While presenting a report to the executive on Saturday, Munde reportedly contended that the government took every step to control the situation. Ordering a judicial inquiry after demands for this came from opposition members was one such.
Munde also claimed that the incident would not tarnish the BJPs image as Maharashtras Dalits hold the Shiv Sena to be anti-Dalit.
The national exective accepted Mundes arguments and this was reflected in the executives political resolution, which lauded the government for acting with speed and restraint in the face of grave provocation by Congress agents provocateur.
The executive meeting also took into account incidents in Gujarat and Karnataka linked to the Mumbai firing.
It concluded that the state-sponsored bandh opposing the Mumbai firing boomeranged on Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela. In Karnataka, the incident led to group clashes, in which one person was killed.
However, in all these places, the BJPs image was not spoilt as it succeeded in exposing the design of anti-BJP parties to malign the BJP, party leaders claimed.
