"It is the number that is the issue," said a senior office-bearer, while patiently replying to queries on the number of Hindu families that fled after the riots.
Party workers were perplexed over flawed list Hukum Singh had released a few days ago citing the exodus of 346 Hindu families after Muzaffarnagar riots.
KAIRANA | LUCKNOW: Hours before a committee put together by BJP was to arrive in Kairana, party workers on Tuesday were evidently perplexed over the flawed list their MP Hukum Singh had released a few days ago citing the exodus of 346 Hindu families after the Muzaffarnagar riots.
"It is the number that is the issue," said a senior office-bearer, while patiently replying to queries on the number of Hindu families that fled after the riots. "The list provides names of people that are easy to trace in Kairana. Many of them left, but have come back. It was silly to put their names," he said.
A BJP worker pointed out a grave error: "Many labourers migrated to Haryana for pure economic reasons (like MNREGA jobs) and not communal." Also, the absence of Gurjar (community that Singh belongs to) names from the list is conspicuous. Hukum Singh appeared cautious on Tuesday while releasing the list of 63 names that he alleged had migrated out of Kandla, 16 km away from Kairana.
"This time I have verified all the names. There will be no mistakes." He insisted the issue in Kairana was of forced migration because of law and order issues. "It is not a community issue. I didn't ask people their religion.
These names are not necessarily of Hindus, they could be Jains, or from other non-Hindu communities too." Several BJP office-bearers that ET spoke with said making a list of 'Hindu migrants' was the new job of BJP and RSS workers in western UP. Last week after a late night meeting, RSS workers had started collecting details on Hindu exodus but, according to them, they needed more time.
"For instance, our list on Kairana has only 61 names. We did area-wise surveys unlike the MP who put together what his people told him," an RSS worker here said. The party had consciously decided to move away from Dadri because lynching — even if it was cow meat — was not deemed acceptable by party seniors.
Last week, a meeting of MPs and MLAs known to make provocative statements was to be held in Bishada in Dadri, but was cancelled in the face of Mathura incident. The Kairana issue, feel many BJP workers here, was hyped up without any preparation. After Kairana and Kandla, similar lists for Saharanpur, Shamli and Muzaffarnagar could be released.
The issue is likely to flare up once again on Wednesday as the BJP factfinding committee on Kairana is expected to arrive. The panel is headed by BJP legislator party chief Suresh Khanna and comprises eight MPs and ex-UP DGP Brij Lal.