New Delhi: As the Unnao rape survivor battles for life following a car crash, the Opposition stepped up its attack on the ruling BJP on Tuesday over the incident with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "divest" his party's accused MLA of the political power being given to him.
Opposition parties - the Congress, the BSP and the SP - accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "extending patronage" to party MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who has been accused of raping a minor girl.
Sengar, who is in jail, and nine others were booked for murder on Monday, a day after the car in which the rape survivor, who is now 19 years of age, her family and lawyer were travelling was hit by a speeding truck in Rae Bareli, killing two of her family members and leaving her and the advocate critically injured.
With the Opposition clamour growing over Sengar's expulsion from the BJP, the saffron party said it had suspended the lawmaker long ago.
Meanwhile, in Lucknow, the rape survivor's family members sat on a dharna outside the hospital where she is undergoing treatment, demanding parole to her uncle Mahesh Singh from jail for the last rites of his wife.
The Lok Sabha also witnessed vociferous protests and sloganeering by Opposition members, including those from the Congress, over the incident.
Amid the ruckus, BJP leaders, including Union ministers, asserted that the Uttar Pradesh government was taking steps to ensure justice for the rape survivor and her family and urged the Opposition not to politicise the matter.
Members of the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the BSP and the DMK walked out of the House.
The Uttar Pradesh government has recommended a CBI probe into the road accident and constituted a Special Investigation Team.
Late on Tuesday, the Centre decided to hand over the probe to the CBI.