J&K BJP leader posts picture with AK-47 rifle on Facebook, party disowns him

Ashish Sareen said the photograph was uploaded on social media by his brother. Sareen deleted the picture after the Opposition latched on to the issue.

Ashish Sareen allegedly posing with an AK-47 rifle.

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir): Days after PM Narendra Modi brought into picture an alleged Congress leader named Salman Nizami from the Valley posting anti-India slogans on social media, a BJP leader from the state has left the party embarrassed for uploading a picture with an AK-47 rifle. The photo has gone viral ever since. The leader on Wednesday apologised for brandishing AK-47 rifle in a photograph. Sareen, on his Facebook account, calls himself as the vice-president of the BJP and the former state vice- president of the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha. Talking to news agency ANI, Sareen apologised for the photograph and said there was not any bad intention behind it. "Many national leaders have photos with guns; I am still a local leader. It was not with any wrong intention, but I still apologise for it," Sareen told a local website. He said the photograph was uploaded on social media by his brother. Sareen deleted the picture after the Opposition latched on to the issue. “I have lot of pictures with tri-color which aren’t showed. This is an old picture posted by my brother,” he said.

@BJP4India Vice President Of J&K #Ashish Sareen Brandishing AK-47 at his Residence and Posted on his Facebook Handle. I Hope @JmuKmrPolice will take a Strong action against him.#Gundagardi.@spvaid @OmarAbdullah @Junaid_Mattu . pic.twitter.com/z4HXAUnJh7

— Wajahat Farooq Bhat (@iamwajahatBhat) December 11, 2017

The BJP state president Sharma said Sareen has not been an active member of the party since he took over the reins of the organisation two years ago. "The law must take its own course," Sharma said reacting to the picture. “I have conducted 4 rallies in Sringar and will continue serving the party.  I work under the leadershi of Sharma. I can't comment on what he said. My party need not be linked to the picture,” he stressed. “Opposition is using cheap tactics to target me. This is dirty politics and is not going to benefit the Opposition,” Sareen added. This is not the first incident wherein a political leader is seen with AK-47, which otherwise is the favourite weapon of the terrorists. In 2014, a photo of People's Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Javed Mir with an AK-47 rifle had gone viral.