The party, which announced state-wide protests and demonstrations on April 7 in support of the arrested MLA, said it will apprise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the facts.
The BJP on Thursday came out in defence of its Rajasthan MLA Rajendra Rathore, arrested in the Dara Singh fake counter case, accusing the Congress of playing caste politics and misusing the CBI.
The party, which announced state-wide protests and demonstrations on April 7, said it will apprise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the facts.
"Much to our shock, the Congress has once again misused the CBI. People belonging to one particular caste are being targeted. When the FIR was lodged in 2006, Rathore's name was not there in the charge sheet. It was subsequently added," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said in Delhi.
She alleged that the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan is unable to govern the state and is now resorting to misuse of CBI in this case.
The BJP has sought an appointment with Prime Minister Singh to apprise him of the details of the case, she said,
Rathore, MLA from Taranagar, has been charged for his alleged involvement in the killing of Dara Singh, a contractor, on October 23, 2006. Rajasthan SOG was involved in the "fake encounter".
The BJP insists that government is misusing the CBI. "Inspite of repeated warnings, the government is misusing the CBI. The Congress is pitting one caste against another. There are targeted attacks on some castes," Sitharaman said.
Rajasthan BJP president Arun Chaturvedi said party workers will stage dharnas and demonstrate on April 7 "in all districts to protest against the arrest which was an example of how CBI is being misused by the Congress."
Speaking to reporters in Jaipur, Chaturvedi said that the party stands by Rathore.
Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje alleged that the UPA government was "fully misusing" the agency for its political agenda.
"We have examples of CBI's misuse in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh also. In Rajasthan, Rathore was arrested on the ground of a baseless story and only on direction of the Congress," she alleged.
Rathore, a close aide of Raje, before going to the CBI office addressed a gathering at the party office and said he was overwhelmed by the support from the party.
Protesting Rathore's arrest, members of the BJP minority cell blocked the road outside the party office.
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