Muhammed Tahir, an active member of BJP’s minority cell, has uploaded the photos of Attari, along with himself and other leaders, on his Facebook account calling Attari “BJP Karyakarta” (BJP worker). In one of those photos, Attari was also seen with Kataria and Irshad Chainwala, BJP’s minority cell leader in Udaipur.
Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI – Several photographs of Riyaz Attari, one of the accused in the killing of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal, with Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Rajasthan including leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria, have surfaced on social media.
Muhammed Tahir, an active member of BJP’s minority cell, has uploaded the photos of Attari, along with himself and other leaders, on his Facebook account calling Attari “BJP Karyakarta” (BJP worker). In one of those photos, Attari was also seen with Kataria and Irshad Chainwala, BJP’s minority cell leader in Udaipur.
Chainwala told India Today that Attari used to attend the events held by the BJP in Udaipur. “He did. Somebody would accompany him. He attended many events of Gulab Ji (BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria),” he said.
Clarion India contacted Chainwala for a clarification about his photos with Attari. He justified the photos saying that many people come to meet him and take photos along with him. He called these photos a “conspiracy against him” and said Attari was not a member of the party.
He also said that he is ready to be investigated in the case and make public his call details.
In the wake of the emergence of the photos, Pawan Khera, head of Congress’s media department, held a press conference and called Attari “member of the BJP”.
“Through the posts of BJP leader Irshad Chainwala on Facebook on November 30, 2018, and Mohammad Tahir on February 3, 2019, October 27, 2019, August 10, 2021, November 28, 2019, and other posts, it is clear that Riyaz was not only close to BJP leaders, but was also an active member of the BJP,” said Khera.
He also questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the Udaipur killing.
Khera also pointed to the alacrity with which the Union Home Minister handed over the case to the National Investigative Agency (NIA).
“The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot welcomed the transfer of this case to the NIA, but on the arrival of new facts, the question is being raised whether the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Center hastened to transfer the incident to the NIA due to these reasons,” he said.
All India Trimanool Congress also targeted the BJP over the development while shared those photographs.
“NO, they don’t want UNITY. No, they don’t want HARMONY. No, they don’t want DEMOCRACY . THEY WANT TO DIVIDE THE NATION. Responsible for spewing hate, unleashing propaganda & divisive politics.
@BJP4India is DIRECTLY LINKED to the GRUESOME,” said AITC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee sharing the photos.
Meanwhile, the BJP denied that Attari was a member of the party.
“BJP is world’s largest party, and hence anybody can come and click pictures with our leaders. But this doesn’t mean that he has been our party member. The accused has never been a member of our party. The state government due to its failure, wants to hold someone responsible. I request the Chief Minister to leave his post,” said M Sadiq Khan, Rajasthan BJP Minority Morcha state president.
