BJP using Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s death for ‘political gains’, accuses his niece

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece Karuna Shukla on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to use her uncle’s death for “political gains”.

“I am stunned and pained to see the way BJP is trying to use the name of Atal-ji after his demise for political gains,” PTI quoted Shukla as saying.

Shukla, a former BJP parliamentarian from Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa constituency, had quit the saffron party ahead of 2013 Assembly elections in the state, and later joined the Congress in 2014.

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“In the past ten years, the BJP never thought of Atal-ji and now, in view of Assembly polls in four states, the party is trying to cash in on his death,” she accused.

Criticising the ruling BJP government in Chhattisgarh for renaming Naya Raipur. The upcoming capital city as “Atal Nagar”, she said that people are well aware of the “drama” being played by saffron party.

 “People are well aware of the drama being played by the BJP and can understand that stunts like five km walk by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (with Vajpayee’s cortege) and installing Atal-ji’s statue are nothing but vote-bank politics,” she said.

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The BJP stalwart and three-time prime minister Vajpayee had passed away at the age of 93 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in Delhi on August 16 following a prolonged illness.