As opposition questions Maoists threat letter to PM, BJP says it's lowest level of politics

The ruling BJP on Monday slammed the opposition parties for being "non-serious" and doing politics over an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Maoists.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar. PTI Photo

NEW DELHI: The ruling BJP on Monday slammed the opposition parties for being "non-serious" and doing politics over an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Maoists. Addressing a press meet here at the BJP headquarters, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the country has lost two prime ministers to violence and the opposition should have been sensitive on such issues. "If a letter has exposed that the Maoists were hatching a conspiracy to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the entire country should come together to condemn it. But the opposition seems to be insensitive towards it," he said. In response to Sharad Pawar's remark that the BJP was trying to generate sympathy by playing a "threat letter card", Javadekar said instead of slamming those plotting to kill Modi, the NCP chief is raising doubts over the letter. "This is the lowest point of politics," he said. "If any opposition leader receives such threats, the government takes seriously because we are a democratic country," he said. Speaking at the NCP function in Pune on Monday, Pawar had raised doubts on the veracity of the threat letter. "I have spoken to a senior retired police officer who told me that when such letters come they do not go to the media but to security agencies which make sure that adequate security measures are taken," the NCP chief said. According to police probing the January 1 Bhima-Koregaon caste violence, a letter recovered talks about theultras' mulling a "Rajiv Gandhi-type incident" and suggesting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be targeted during his "road shows". The letter was recovered from Rona Wilson, one of the five people arrested from Mumbai, Nagpur and Delhi in connection with 'Elgar Parishad' held in Pune in December and the subsequent Bhima-Koregaon violence in the district.