NEW DELHI, Aug. 10: Downplaying the key ally, Ms Mamata Banerjee’s claim that encounter of Maoist leader Azad was a “murder”, the Congress on Tuesday said if allegations have been made, there are institutions to deal with it. It also lauded the Trinamul leader for speaking against violence at her rally in Lalgarh, a stronghold of Maoists.
“The Congress never supported fake encounters. We make a clear distinction between encounter and fake encounter. If allegations have been made, there are institutions like the NHRC and the courts which have a specific mandate to deal with such issues,” the AICC spokesperson, Mr Manish Tewari, said.
Responding to the allegation of Ms Banerjee hobnobbing with the Maoists, Mr Tewari said that every political party has a right to carry out its activities in a democratic manner. “We should not be carried away by misleading propaganda. If Mamata Banerjee has gone to Lalgarh, she has said that she was opposed to violence,” he added.
To a query on the party’s position on the encounter of Azad in Andhra Pradesh, Mr Tewari said it was not the job of the party to “give certificates” on police or administrative action.
When asked about the presence of Maoists in Lalgarh, Mr Tewari shot back by saying, “What prevented the West Bengal police from arresting them?”