Another year rolled by. The year of hope that began with spiritual mega event of Kumbh mela culminated under a dark shadow of communal riots in western Uttar Pradesh whose embers are still glowing with riot victims are languishing in make-shift camps in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli.
The year 2013 was a trying time for the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. The Government went whole hog to fulfill the promises Samajwadi party had made to people in last assembly elections. Distribution of laptops among class XII pass students, announcing welfare projects for the farmers like waiving of farm loans and giving shape to scholarship schemes for the girls of minority community were on the priority list of the Government.
But Government efforts left behind dark shadows of failure behind it. If Government did a commendable job in organizing Kumbh mela in January where over 200 million people cane to wash their sins in the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. Its efforts were marred by a stampede on February 10 in Allahabad killing 36 devotees. The Government efforts to release terror accused youth was negated by the court who questioned the rationale behind this decision.
Its efforts to bring crime under control boomeranged when Deputy Superintendent of Police Zia Ul Haq was killed in Pratapgarh. The widow of the slain officer blamed a Cabinet ranked minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh as conspirator of the killing giving red face to the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The minister was later exonerated of all charges but by now the damage was done.
The embarrassment for the Government did not end here. In July, the Government courted another controversy when a 2009-batch IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, posted as sub-divisional magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, was suspended after she had clamped down on illegal mining and resolutely taken head-on the powerful sand mafia in the state.
Government justified its decision saying Nagpal was suspended because she ordered demolition of a wall of a religious place but the outcry and the support Congress president Sonia Gandhi have to the IAS officer irked the Samajwadi Party leadership.
The biggest grey area of Akhilesh Yadav’s 2013 was the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas, in which over 65 people were killed. SP government blamed BJP of triggering violence and two of its MlAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana were arrested and both were booked under National Security Act, which was later revoked by
the court.
The Muzaffarnagar riots are still the talking point. Death of 34 children in the camp drew backlash from leaders across the political spectrum. The incident raised a big question mark over Akhilesh Yadav’s style of functioning.
If 2013 is a trying time for Samajwadi Party, it is a time for euphoria for BJP. The party, riding on Modi wave, has found its footings in Uttar Pradesh. The party that was reduced to Number 4 ki party in UP is back in reckoning. With very successful rallies of Modi BJP feels that it can this year win atleast 40 lok Sabha seats.
The year ended with a good note for the Congress when its senior most member of the UP assembly Pramod Tiwari was elected in the by-election to the Rajya Sabha seat with the support of the ruling SP. The seat got vacated following conviction of Congress MP Rashid Masood. Senior SP leader Mohan Singh also died due to long ailment and his daughter was elected in the Rajya Sabha by-elections.