BJP team to visit Rajasthan's Bharatpur to prepare report on illegal mining after seer's death

A team of four BJP MPs will visit Bharatpur in Rajasthan to prepare a report on the alleged illegal mining there following the death of a seer who had set himself on fire in a protest.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) statement said seers had been protesting for over 551 days against the illegal mining and that Vijay Das immolated himself due to the state government's inaction to their demand.

Das, who was was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi in a critical condition with 80 per cent burns, died in the early hours of Saturday.

BJP president J P Nadda has condoled the death of Das and formed a four-member committee to visit the spot and prepare a report, it said.

Its members are Arun Singh, who is the party general secretary in-charge of its affairs in the state, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Satya Pal Singh and Brij Lal.

While Satya Pal Singh is a former Mumbai Police commissioner, Brij Lal is a former Uttar Pradesh DGP.

The opposition BJP in Rajasthan blamed the state Congress government for the death of the seer.

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje said a high-level inquiry should be conducted in the matter because ''if the officials and the government had listened to the seers in time, a seer would not have died''.

''The chief minister should admit that illegal mining is not stopping in Rajasthan. It becomes clear that if anyone is responsible for the death of the seer, it is the state government,'' she alleged.

State BJP president Satish Poonia echoed her saying, ''The Congress government in Rajasthan is giving protection to the mining mafia''.

He alleged that the state government was in the grip of the mining mafia and the chief minister was shirking his responsibility as the home minister.

Seers have been agitating in Bhartpur's Pasopa village for over 500 days demanding the closure of mining activities in Deeg town. During the agitation on Wednesday, Das had set himself on fire.

He was referred to SMS Hospital in Jaipur and from there was taken to Safdarjung Hospital in a critical condition.