Instead of cracking jokes Shinde should have gone to Assam: BJP

Terming the remarks of Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, that coal scam will soon be forgotten, as "unfortunate", BJP today said instead of cracking jokes he should have gone to Assam and Naxal-hit areas to share the pain of victims.

"The minister should have gone to Assam to share the pain of victims instead of joking in the name of the coal scam," party's spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said here.

Shinde in a programme in Pune last week had said the coal block allotment issue would fade away from public memory like the Bofors controversy, but later defended himself saying he was joking.

"Congress could have the disorder of losing memory but not the public. People will never forget this corrupt government like they did not forget Bofors scam and emergency, Shinde says he was joking in the programme but he is not supposed to do that," the BJP MP said.

"If he wants to be an entertainer, he may be in cabinet meeting but not at a public platform. Let the comedian Raju Srivastava do his job, why Shinde is keen to take his place," Hussain said.

"Taking care of the victims in Assam and Naxal hit areas is his duty, he should rather focus on that instead of doing jokes," he said, adding the UPA-II was going to be the last government of Congress. PTI SDA SHS 09171922 NNNN