Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid's remark about Congress president Sonia Gandhi getting emotionally moved by Batl a House pictures might have created a furore in the Congress circles.
But many in the Congress see it as a genuine, albeit desperate attempt to woo the Muslims, who showed up in poor numbers at a rather unimpressive rally addressed by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi last week.
"After all , the thin attendance at Rahul's rally was a clear reflection of the disillusionment of local Muslims with the Congress; that had failed to do anything concrete to undo the official justification of the Delhi based Batla House encounter in which all the young Muslim victims belonged to Azamgarh," observed Amit Tiwari, a local scribe.
According to him, "Rahul looked quite unhappy and jittery with the extremely poor crowd and was understood to have expressed his displeasure with local partymen; obviously, Khurshid was trying to impress upon the local population that the encounter did not have Sonia Gandhi's sanction."
In his statement recorded by TV channels, Khurshid had said at a public meeting on Thursday, "When the picture of the Batla House encounter were shown to Sonia Gandhi, she was so moved that she could not control her tears."
What has surprised many in Azamgarh was the stand taken by Congress bigwig Digvijay Singh, who flatly refuted Khurshid's remark by shooting, "I am sure Soniaji did not burst into tears."
Evidently, the contradictory statements have brought much embarrassment to the Congress that was banking heavily on the Muslim vote for its revival in Uttar Pradesh, where it had been out of power for the past 22 years.
