Journalism of Courage
Amid countrywide outrage against the alleged stalking of an IAS officer’s daughter by Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala’s son, BJP MP from Kurukshetra, Rajkumar Saini said on Sunday that state party president Subhash Barala should resign on moral grounds. The Opposition in Haryana has targeted the BJP over the issue by staging protests and burning effigies of Barala at several places. However, BJP’s Haryana media cell chief Rajiv Jain said allegations of the opposition related to alleged influencing of the probe were “baseless.” Saini told The Indian Express, “If [someone in] our family has done a mistake, resignation should be submitted on moral grounds.” Saini also indicated that such a move (by Barala) may improve the image of the party.
The BJP MP, a former Haryana minister, said there had been many instances when the persons concerned had to resign from their posts in the past too. According to Saini, the then Haryana power minister Venod Sharma had resigned when his son’s name had cropped up in the Jessica Lal murder case. “Venod Sharma resigned although he was not at fault personally,” he added. He also cited the example of former Andhra Pradesh governor N D Tiwari. Saini has been vocal against reservation to Jats. Barala also belongs to the Jat community and is a first-time MLA from Tohana constituency of Fatehabad district.
