The report of the fact finding team of Samajwadi Party has warmed up political scenario in Uttar Pradesh before by-polls as Bharatiya Janata Party and Samajwadi Party seems to be trying to get the political mileage out of this probe team’s findings.
Twelve assembly constituencies and one Parliamentary constituency Uttar Pradesh will go to polls on September 13. While Shivpal Singh Yadav, who headed Samajwadi Party’s fact finding team told reporters in Aligarh that BJP MP from Saharanpur Raghav lakhpal was responsible for the violence along with a BJP Councillor. “They went through the streets and instigated a particular community to torch the shops of another community,” Yadav said. He also blamed the district authorities for laxity in controlling the violence. He, however, defended Congress leader Imran Masood. Yadav said Masood was trying to pacify the crowd, against whom the Saharanpur district authorities have lodged a FIR for communal violence. But the SP minister could not give any specific answer why the district authorities did not lodge FIR against the BJP MP if he was instigating violence.
BJP has also reacted sharply on the issue, with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying that it is a political report and an internal matter of Samajwadi Party. Meanwhile, Raghav lakhanpal alleged that the SP was hatching conspiracy against him for political reasons due to be coming by-elections. “If I had not talked to Rajnath Singh on that day, the situation would have been more serious,” he said in Saharanpur. He said the district authorities had appreciated his role in the riots but SP minister’s charge against him shows their appeasement move for a particular community to gain vote in the coming assembly by-elections.
Several BJP leaders including UP BJP president laxmikant Bajpai too criticised the SP government for trying to blame the BJP to cover up their lapses. ‘ Such move will promote the riots and the criminals and the state government will have to face the music in coming days,’’ Bajpai claimed. On the other hand Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Choudhury alleged that everyone knows about the real motive of the BJP and the report was a true fact.
‘’The probe report of the UP minister Shivpal Singh Yadav was given after talking with people from all the sections and visiting the spot,’’ he said while adding that BJP leaders in order to save their skins are terming the report as political.