Self-immolation attempt by seer over illegal mining: Rajasthan BJP leaders lash out at Congress govt

Jaipur: The senior leaders of Rajasthan BJP including ex-chief minister Vasundhara Raje and state president Satish Poonia held the Congress government responsible for the incident of self-immolation attempt by a seer over illegal mining.

Poonia said that the seers in the Kaman area of Bharatpur region had been protesting against illegal mining for the past 551 days. The seers want to preserve the historical and religious nature of the Braj Chaurasi region that the illegal mining is destroying. Illegal mining did not stop even after such a long and intense agitation. This compelled the seer to take such a drastic step in desperation, Poonia said.

He added that despite a complete ban on illegal mining since January 2005, the government has failed to rein in the mining mafia.

Former chief minister Raje said the Kaman incident was yet another example of the gross negligence of the Gehlot government that had come to the fore after the Udaipur murder case.

The state government did not pay heed to the demand of the seers to stop illegal mining. This forced a seer to take such a drastic step.

Soon after the incident of self-immolation attempt by the seer, chief minister Ashok Gehlot called a review meeting and asked the officials to run a joint operation against illegal mining. Gehlot directed the police SPs of the districts to take strict action on the mining mafia and launch a campaign with coordination among various departments mines, police, transport and administration.

He asked the officials to make a list of all mining mafia and take an action against them. The mining lease holders should not face any problems and the illegal miners should not be spared.

The seer, identified as Vijay Das, set himself on fire at the protest site. The seer is in a critical condition.