PUNE: Agitated by the comments made by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth leader Varun Gandhi two days ago at a rally in Bihar, the Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray yesterday demanded that the government should put Lalu behind bars by applying the provisions of the National Security Act (NSA) as it had done in the case of Varun.
In an interview published in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana yesterday, Thackeray said “if the law in the country is same for all citizens, then Lalu, who has spoken out at a public rally of crushing Varun beneath the road roller, should be arrested immediately without delay under NSA and thrust into prison.”
Taking strong exemptions to the statement of Lalu, the Sena chief further said “the Union government takes no notice when a federal minister speaks publicly that if he ‘had been the federal home minister he would have run the road-roller over the body of Varun no matter what the consequences follow’ and dares the police to arrest him if they can. This is shame for the Union government that their minister speaks in this language and no action is taken against him,” he added.
It’s a double standard that when Varun spoke in defense of the Hindus, the government of Uttar Pradesh acts swiftly, arrests him under the NSA and sends him to jail, while Lalu who speaks more harshly, is not arrested, Thackeray said.
Meanwhile, alleging that Lalu poses a threat to her son Varun’s life, BJP MP from Pilibhit, Maneka Gandhi, yesterday complained to the police. Her written complaint was submitted to the senior superintendent of police, Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh, N. Ravindran.
“She has complained to the SSP that Lalu has used objectionable remarks against Varun and also threatened to kill him,” Badaun district BJP chief Rajiv Kumar told IANS on phone.
— With input from agencies
