Sentence awarded to Rahul excessive, Centre should have shown a big heart: Prashant Kishor
Patna, Mar 25: Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Saturday termed as "excessive" the two years' imprisonment awarded to Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case and urged the ruling dispensation to show "a big heart" on the Congress leader's disqualification.
Kishor, who is now touring Bihar, his home state, as part of "Jan Suraaj" campaign, also underscored that the Congress did not seem to be well prepared to reach out to the masses with the message that it has been wronged.
"I am not a legal expert but with due respect to the process of law, the sentence awarded to Rahul Gandhi seems to be excessive. In the heat of elections, people say all types of things. This was not the first instance and not going to be the last", asserted the IPAC founder who has, in his professional capacity, worked with many political parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
"Two years in prison seems to be excessive for what is essentially a defamation case", said Kishor, adding "I would like to remind the government at the Centre of a famous line by Atal Bihari Vajpayee that nobody becomes great with a petty heart (chhote man se koi bada nahin ban jaata)".
"The ruling dispensation may hide behind technicalities and insist that Rahul Gandhi's disqualification was inevitable, given his conviction. I would still say they should have taken a leaf out of the book of late Vajpayee, their own revered leader and not rushed to disqualify Rahul Gandhi", said Kishor.
"They (the BJP) are in power today. The onus was on them to have shown a big heart. They should have waited for a few days and allowed the aggrieved party to go in appeal and acted only if no relief was in sight", added Kishor, who first shot into limelight with his handling of the spectacularly successful Lok Sabha poll campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.
Kishor, who decided to return to his home state and launch "Jan Suraaj" after his proposal to revamp the Congress failed to take off, despite several rounds of talks with the top leadership, also had a word of advice for the grand old party.
"The Congress seems to have little realization of what it is up against. Its top brass needs to understand that you cannot fight a political battle simply by sitting in Delhi, tweeting furiously and staging marches to the Parliament", he said.
"I would like to share my own experience here, in Marhaura block of Saran district. I am yet to come across a single Congress worker who is meeting people and trying to explain to them how it is being wronged. There are more than one lakh panchayats across the country. I wonder if Congress workers made an effort in any of these", he added.
"Be it the Congress, or any other opposition party, all need to realize that making a buzz with some press conferences and social media presence may be okay but unless they reach out to the villages, they cannot win the political battle (against BJP)", added Kishor.
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Hathras school director, teachers arrested for alleged 'human sacrifice' of class 2 student
Hathras: A Class 2 student was allegedly killed as part of a black magic ritual inside his school hostel in Hathras. The police have arrested five people, including the director and three teachers of D L Public School, Rasgawan, for their alleged involvement in the crime.
The deceased boy, whose body was found in the school director's car, is believed to have been ‘sacrificed’ for the school's purported success and glory, according to the police. The suspects in custody are school director Dinesh Baghel, his father Jashodhan Singh, and teachers Laxman Singh, Veerpal Singh, and Ramprakash Solanki.
Hathras Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal stated, "The child was killed as part of a ritual for the institution's success. We are investigating whether any additional individuals were involved in the incident."
Police reports suggest that the director's father, Jashodhan, practiced black magic and rituals. In the past, he had allegedly attempted to kill another child in a similar manner but failed.
The deceased was the son of Krishan Kushwaha, a software engineer based in Delhi. The school hostel, which houses around 600 students from Classes 1 to 5, became the scene of the tragic crime earlier this week.
On Monday morning, the boy was found unresponsive in his hostel bed by staff and other students. Instead of reporting the matter, Baghel reportedly attempted to cover up the crime by placing the child’s body in his car and driving to Agra and Aligarh for several hours. The boy's family, upon being informed that their child was “unwell,” reached the school but could not locate him.
Suspecting foul play, Kushwaha informed the local police, which led to a manhunt for Baghel. The boy’s body, bearing strangulation marks, was eventually found in Baghel’s vehicle after the family raised an alarm. An autopsy confirmed that the child had been strangled on Sunday night.
A case of murder under relevant sections has been registered against the accused, and further investigation is underway.
