INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
In the end, a controversial speech he had made last month finally caught up with Chandra Prakash Ganga
But hours before the BJP finally told its minister in the Mehbooba Mufti government to send across his resignation, the Industries Minister
did attempt a last-minute course correction.Chandra Prakash Ganga, one of the two ministers to lose his job for backing the wrong side, told
TheIndianSubcontinent on Friday morning that he was satisfied with the investigation conducted by the police into the rape and murder of the
eight-year-old girl in Kathua
He also underlined that he did not personally feel the need for a CBI probe.The comment contrasts with his assertion at a rally organised in
support of the accused in March
Ministers Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga attended the event organised by Hindu Ekta Manch, an outfit that has been protesting against
the arrests in the case."Where is SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police) sahib Call him here
No person will be arrested now by this jungle raj which has been unleashed here," Chandra Prakash Ganga had then said, to loud cheers from
His colleague, Lal Singh, had questioned the police crackdown, pointing that the women had died earlier too.Chandra Prakash Ganga now says
he had gone to calm tempers because of tension in the area."I have full faith in what the (state) government has done," the minister said in
an interview hours before the BJP gave in to mounting pressure from its alliance partner, PDP, in Jammu and Kashmir.PDP leaders have been
uncomfortable at the way, as its leaders put it, BJP leaders were trying to polarise the community in Kathua and beyond over the arrest of
eight persons for the rape and murder committed in January
The accused wanted the case to be transferred to the CBI.But it was only after the horrifying details of the eight-year-old girl's painful
death came to light that outrage peaked.The girl, kidnapped from near her home on January 10, had been kept sedated and gang-raped
repeatedly for days by a group before being killed
She was drugged and not given food the entire time
Just before her head was bashed in with a rock, one of the police officers asked the killer to wait so he could rape the child one more
time, according to the charge-sheet
One of the rapists is a student who travelled all the way from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh after being invited to "satisfy his lust".The growing
outrage over the last few days appeared to narrow Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's options and she signalled that she could consider a
separation rather than continue with Chandra Prakash Ganga and Lal Singh in her cabinet.PDP leaders also took a dim view of the BJP's
explanation presented by the party's spokesperson Meenakashi Lekhi and other leaders."You are hung up on two ministers who were misled and
joined a protest wrongly," Ms Lekhi told reporters in Delhi.Rejecting the demand that the BJP should remove its two ministers, Ms Lekhi shot
back: "What kind of action
If somebody comes up to me and says I am misled
Is it a crime to get misled, is it a crime
You do get misled, people do get misled
People in public life do get misled and the only lesson to them is that they should hold their horses before investigation is complete."It
wasn't the message that Ms Mufti was hoping for and stayed put on her decision to call a meeting of her party's ministers for Saturday
PDP leaders had indicated it was to take a call on the alliance's future.Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sharp statement that called the rape
in Kathua and Uttar Pradesh's Unnao "shameful" for the country, however, signalled a shift.Ram Madhav, the senior BJP leader who had helped
stitch together the alliance, confirmed that Ms Mufti wanted the ministers out of her team
"The Prime Minister also advised us to take appropriate action to send a right message to people," he told news agency ANI.The BJP
strategist reached Jammu on Saturday to discuss the developing political situation in the state
"We will also discuss the resignation letters," he said.
