Jharkhand minister's embarrassing gaffe: 'Himachal CM Sukhu should resign for Pahalgam attack'; later a botched coverup

NEW DELHI: Sudivya Kumar, Jharkhand's tourism minister and senior leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, left his party and alliance partner Congress embarrassed as he demanded the resignation of Himachal chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu for the Pahalgam terror attack. On Tuesday, 26 innocent civilians - mostly tourists- were killed brutally by Pakistan backed terrorists in Pahalgam.
"Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu should resign over the Pahalgam incident because he failed to save the lives of his people. It is an unfortunate incident and I feel Himachal chief minister should resign," the senior Jharkhand minister said on Thursday.
Ironically, when Sudivya Kumar realised his gaffe and tried to clarify his remarks, he ended up making another gaffe as he took the name of PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti, perhaps unaware of the fact that the chief minister of J&K is Omar Abdullah and not Mehbooba. The Jharkhand minister, in a bid to cover up the embarrassment, claimed that he had made the remarks "sarcastically."
"In the Pahalgam incident, six terrorists infiltrated from a distance of 300 km. Whose failure is this, if not the Centre's Mehbooba Mufti (PDP chief) is not accountable," the Jharkhand minister said.
The JMM leader also stoked a controversy as he targeted the Prime Minister, the defence minister and the home minister for failing to take responsibility for the security lapse and also questioned why national mourning was not announced.
The minister said that responsibility should be fixed at the highest level. "If the PM doesn't respond, then who will?" he said and then cited precedents of “moral accountability”. Sudivya Kumar pointed out resignations of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Nitish Kumar as railway ministers, and Shivraj Patil as home minister following national tragedies. "Earlier, leaders set high standards and accepted moral responsibility. Why is that missing now?" the Jharkhand minister said.
The opposition BJP reacted strongly to Jharkhand minister's statements.
Leader of opposition in state assembly and former Jharkhand BJP president Babulal Marandi termed his remarks "shameful and disgraceful," especially at a time when "not just the nation, but the entire world is mourning the tragedy in Kashmir".
"The sarcasm displayed by the minister is a reflection of deep-rooted arrogance and madness that seems to have overtaken him. His behaviour is extremely embarrassing," Marandi said.
(With inputs from agencies)