‘State govts answerable for Dadri, K’taka’

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the backfoot over beef controversy and the writers' protest against “rising intolerance”, party chief Amit Shah on Monday said the BJP could not be blamed for incidents which occurred in states ruled by other parties. A day after he ticked off a number of party leaders, including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, MP Sakshi Maharaj and MLA Sangeet Som, over their controversial comments, Shah said the parties in power in UP and Karnataka were answerable for the incidents cited by protesting writers. The two incidents, Dadri lynching and murder of noted Kannada writer and rationalist MM Kalburgi, happened in Samajwadi Party-ruled UP and Congress-ruled Karnataka, he noted, adding "law and order is a state issue. You all know that. We have nothing to do with it", he said.