NAGPUR: Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar Sunday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on what he claimed were “lapses” that led to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack which killed 40 CRPF personnel.
Addressing a press conference here, he claimed an “extremely urgent” military document from Kashmir dated February 8, just a few days before the Pulwama attack, had asked forces to sanitise any area before their movement.
“It stated that there is a possibility of attack on convoy and asked for scrutiny on the route of the convoy,” he claimed.
“We want to ask the government whether the cabinet discussed this issue after receiving this important document. Did the security and defence committee of the cabinet discuss this issue? Or whether this document was deliberately neglected by the government,” he asked.
“Similarly, there is system in place for the convoy to bear the impact of an attack. Was this system in place in the concerned attack?” he further questioned.
Ambedkar, grandson of father B R Ambedkar, also took potshots at Gadkari, the sitting MP and BJP candidate from the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat, by referring to him as “incoming prime minister” and “prime minister in making”.
There has been speculation that Gadkari could be the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in case of a fractured mandate in the upcoming general elections.
This, however, has been denied routinely by Gadkari who has stressed that neither does he have any aspirations nor the RSS any designs to project him as a prime ministerial candidate.
“We want to ask Gadkari whether this document received before the Pulwama attack was taken seriously by the government, and if so, then what instructions were given by the government,” Ambedkar said.
He said PM Modi, Gadkari or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat should tell the “truth” about the Pulwama terror attack.
Speaking on the Lok Sabha polls, the Dalit leader said a “wall” of 10 lakh votes stood in the way of Gadkari being re-elected from Nagpur.
He said Congress candidate Nana Patole would not get Dalit or Muslim votes from here and neither would Gadkari manage to attract the votes of the Halba tribal community, which has a string presence in the city.
“Gadkari is up against a wall of ten lakh votes,” he claimed.
Ambedkar’s BBM and the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen have formed the Vanchit Bhaujan Aghadi to fight polls in Maharashtra jointly.
Ambedkar and Owaisi will be addressing a public rally for Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’s Nagpur candidate Sagar Dabrase on Monday. PTI
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