BJP slams Patil for equating Sarabjit with Afzal

New Delhi, May 21 (UNI) Taking strong exception to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil equating Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal with the Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan, the BJP today demanded the resignation of Mr Patil for attempting to indulge in vote bank appeasement.

Reacting to the statement of the Home Minister in Latur, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said Afzal Guru was a convict in the most heinous crime against democracy whereas Sarabjit Singh's case was one of mistaken identity. ''The two are not the same.

Mr Patil has no business to be in his post even for a day if he cannot make distinction between the two,'' he said.

Earlier, Mr Patil in an interview to a news channel, had given an ambiguous answer to a question on the hanging of Afzal Guru saying that the government would follow the process prescribed by the Constitution for deciding on the mercy petition pending before the President of India.

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