Delegation of 5 opposition parties to visit Kairana

A delegation of five opposition parties, including the Janata Dal-United, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Nationalist Congress Party, will on Thursday visit Kairana where it will meet residents and address a gathering of civil society, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s claim of exodus of Hindus and subsequent visit by a party team have created ‘anxiety and tension’ in Western Uttar Pradesh.

‘They (the BJP) have tested the waters in Godhra and Muzaffarnagar riots and seen the results and are in search of (an opportunity for) doing the same before the upcoming UP assembly election,’ JD-U general secretary K C Tyagi said in a statement.

Condemning BJP president Amit Shah’s statement on ‘exodus’ of Hindus in Kairana, the opposition parties alleged that the statement has created anxiety and tension in Western Uttar Pradesh.

The delegation which will visit Kandhla and Kairana include JD-U MP K C Tyagi, CPI-M MP Md Salim, Communist Party of India’s D Raja, NCP MP D P Tripathi and Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesperson Manoj Jha.

‘They will meet all sections of the society and address a gathering of civil society in Kairana. Members of the delegation took strong exception to and emphatically condemned the statement made by Shah about Kairana exodus,’ Tyagi said.

Earlier in the day, JD-U leader Sharad Yadav cautioned against any attempt to foment communal tension ahead of the assembly polls.

“People from Kairana did come to me. They told me that what all they (the BJP) are saying is a lie. It is nice that they have made a U-turn from what they have earlier said. Soon there will be elections in UP, there should not be any tension on communal divide,” he said.