Is speaking against Narendra Modi becoming fashionable, asks BJP

Defending the arrest police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, BJP today said it is being done as per the legal process and asked if the attacks against Gujarat Chief Minister show that being anti-Narendra Modi has become "fashionable".

"The action has been taken against Bhatt as he has misused his position by forcefully getting a policeman to prepare an affidavit. Only the due process of law is being followed. We do not understand where Modi is involved in this," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Bhatt was arrested last Friday on an FIR filed by constable KD Panth. The DIG has accused Modi of complicity in the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

BJP described the attacks against Modi as a "sad state of affairs".

"If I may say lightly, is it fashionable to talk anti-Modi?" Sitharaman said, adding that in such a scenario law of the land can never take full play.

Sitharaman also sought to know how Bhatt could be called a "whistleblower".

The BJP alleged the central government has started acting against all those who raise their voice in protest.

Sitharaman said while Anna Hazare was troubled earlier, his close associate Arvind Kejriwal has been questioned and now Kiran Bedi's NGOs are being raided.

"Since Subramanium Swamy is active against 2G spectrum scam, now he is also being targeted," Sitharaman alleged, adding "we cannot have a hypocritical, partisan stand on issues."