Mecca blast case: BJP seeks apology; Rahul ducks poser
Congress president Rahul Gandhi Monday dodged a query on acquittal of right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, which has prompted BJP to seek his apology for his party 'using' terms like "saffron terror" in the past.
The Congress president, who began his three-day visit to his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi and to neighbouring Rae Bareli represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi monday morning, refused to take the question on the Hyderabad court verdict.
Asked by a reporter to comment on the verdict, Rahul, while emerging out of a programme, ignored the poser and told his driver to move ahead.
Soon after an anti-terror court in Hyderbad acquitted Assemanand and four others in the 2007 blast case, the BJP alleged that the Congress has long "defamed" Hindus for votes and demanded that Rahul and his predecessor Sonia Gandhi apologise for their party leaders using in the past terms like "saffron terror" and "Hindu terror."
Slamming the Congress over the issue after the verdict, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that the opposition party's "appeasement politics" of "defaming" Hindus has been exposed.
The NIA court monday acquitted Aseemanand and four others in the Mecca Masjid blast case, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove charges against the accused in the case.
A massive blast had ripped through the Mecca Masjid on May 8, 2007, during Friday prayers, killing nine people and wounding 58.
The case was initially probed by the local police before being transferred to the CBI, and finally to the country's premier anti-terror investigation agency NIA in 2011.
Earlier on his arrival in Amethi, Rahul was given a warm welcome by his party workers.PTI
