BJP leader Chander Prakash Ganga, who submitted his resignation as Jammu and Kashmir minister said on Saturday, 14 April that he attended the rally in Kathua on the behest of the party.

Ganga submitted his resignation to the BJP's state president on Friday “to save the image of the prime minister and the party” following a controversy over their presence in a rally in support of the accused.

“We were sent (to Kathua) by the party. Our party president Sat Sharma sent us. We went there on the party’s instruction,” Ganga was quoted as saying by Times Now.