Cong blames Raje for failure to act

New Delhi, May 30 (UNI) Condemning the ''brutal'' police firing on the Gujjar community in Dausa and Bundi in Rajasthan, the Congress today charged Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje with having miserably failed to fulfil her Constitutional obligation to maintain law and order in the state.

The party demanded ''immediate'' restoration of peace and law and order in the state.

''The entire responsibility for the tragic loss of life and property in the violence in which 14 people were killed lies on the Chief Minister and her government,'' Congress Spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan said while talking to mediapersons here.

She said the unfortuante incident could have been anticipated and averted by taking effective steps, but the elected representatives were too busy in depicting the Chief Minister in a favourable light to attend to the pressing problems of their constitutencies.

Asked whether the demand of the Gujjars to be included in the ST category was justified, Ms Natrajan said, ''This is a serious Constitutional issue and no piece meal solution of the same can be given.

''Any decision on the matter can be taken only after wide-ranging discussion at the national level involving the stake holders,'' the spokesperson said.

She pleaded ignorance about the detention of Congress Spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi while going to the affected areas of the state, along with a Congress delegation, to take stock of the situation.

UNI