Congress, Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) cautious on 2008 blast case acquittals: BJP seeks apology

Mumbai: When the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) investigated the Malegaon blasts of 2008 and implicated Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Purohit in the blast case the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party who were in an alliance went to town slamming the BJP and RSS for 'Hindutva terror and saffron terror'. While the BJP and the Shiv Sena had slammed the two parties for framing 'Hindus', Thursday's verdict by a NIA court has seen a shift in the stance of all the parties barring the BJP.

As the BJP went to town slamming the Congress and asking it to apologise for framing 'Hindus' in the blasts case.

Maharashtra BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said that the NIA court verdict had 'foiled the Congress plot of accusing seven Hindu nationalist just to appease the minority community.' "It has now been proven that this was a widespread conspiracy to defame the Hindu community and gain political benefits by appeasing the minority community."


Maharashtra Congress President Harshvardhan Sakpal meekly countered the verdict by saying, "There is no dispute that the blasts happened, and people died. Where did the culprits go, this is the obvious question? Who is the culprit? They should be caught, and the government should punish them. Martyred Hemant Karkare (then ATS Chief) was very sensitive and capable. What happened to the clues that he had uncovered? This is an unanswered question, it is the government's responsibility to punish the culprits."said Sakpal.

The Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray had in 2008 had attacked the Congress and the then ATS Chief Hemant Karkare personally in the party mouthpiece 'Saamana' for his investigations in the Malegaon case. On Thursday however the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray Sena sang a different tune. Hours before the verdict, Saamana Editor and its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said "A number of important people are involved in this case. The government has taken a stand on that issue. We had taken a different stand then; we are also looking at the case."

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who heads the Shiv Sena said that the NIA court has 'wiped away the stain unfairly placed on the Hindus.' "Though delayed justice has finally been done. Truth can never be defeated. The Shiv Sena stood firmly with the accused from the beginning as we always believed in their innocence."

The NCP (sp) which had also gone all out against the BJP and RSS in 2008 also was very subdued in its reaction to the Malegaon blasts verdict.