Azam Khan asks Modi to 'burn Ravana of Guj'

Sambhal (UP), Oct 6: Mounting a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Azam Khan today asked him to "burn Ravana of Gujarat" ahead of his visit to Lucknow to attend the historic Aishbagh Ramlila on Dussehra next week.

"I want to request him that there is no need to burn Ravana in Lucknow. The capital of India is not Lucknow but New Delhi and after 1947 if massacre of humanity was done somewhere it was in Gujarat. If he (Modi) wants to burn Ravana, he should burn Ravana of Gujarat," he told a meeting here.

"After Gujarat riots, BJP and RSS men said they had also got votes from Muslim localities. But the reality is that they (BJP and RSS) threatened Muslims about what they had done (during riots) to get their votes," he said.

Modi is scheduled to attend the historic Aishbagh Ramlila in Lucknow on Dussehra next week, seen as yet another attempt to connect to the people of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

On surgical strikes, Khan said that leaders like Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi and Sanjay Nirupam could not trust Modi due to "his lies" to people.

"They (these leaders) are now termed as traitors by RSS. I am happy that till now only I was in this category and was asked to go to Pakistan. Now they are above me in the list (of traitors)," Khan said.

Mentioning Asaduddin Owaisi, who is trying to make inroads in UP, the SP leader said he "challenged" him to get one legislator elected from the state.

PTI