"Mr. Prime Minister, do you think what happened in Dadri was a fight between the Hindus and Muslims? It was a premeditated, meticulously conspired stratagem to create an environment of fear; to divide the polity for BJP to gain political capital in Bihar."
"You should not have waited for 9 days to make a non-statement. Your words were insensitive since they did not take note of the forces of hate behind the Dadri lynching", senior party leader Kapil Sibal told reporters.
"Gandhiji would have gone on a fast unto death had he witnessed the incident at Dadri. Gandhiji would never make the kind of speeches you are making in Bihar", he said.
Hitting out at the Prime Minister, Sibal told him "your thought process and your mind-set are the same as that of Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma. So please don't pretend to distance yourself from him."
More From This Section
Sharma had come under attack over his controversial statements in the wake of the incident at Dadri which falls in his Lok Sabha constituency.
"After polarizing the polity for political gain, you then make a wishy-washy statement, talking of 'akhandata/sadbhavana' so that you reap both harvests,." He said.
Targeting BJP, he asked the Prime Minister why before every election the communal temperature rises above "boiling point."
"Is it because BJP wishes to polarize the polity to garner votes or is it just a coincidence? ", he said.