BJP joins issue with Rahul Gandhi on murder of scribe Lankesh

New Delhi, Sept 8: The BJP today joined issue with Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for his comments on the murder of Gauri Lankesh and said his comments immediately after the death of the scribe was "malafide". The BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also questioned Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and asked whether he agreed to the comments from Mr Gandhi that RSS and BJP cadres were responsible for the murder of journalist Lankesh. He also lashed out at the liberals and so called secular forces and said there was a deliberate "silence" on their part when RSS cadres are attacked in states like Kerala and Karnataka. "We expect instead of politics, Karnataka government should investigate the murder," Mr Prasad said. The BJP leader also alleged that adequate security was not provided to Gauri Lankesh. Gauri Lankesh's brother has said she was working on surrender of Naxalites, he said and wondered, "why was security not provided to her". Attacking the BJP, Mr Gandhi had said anybody who speaks against the ideology of the BJP-RSS is “pressured, beaten, attacked and even killed”. UNI