The government faced contretemps in Vidhan Sabha over discrepancy in its reply about communal riots in Uttar Pradesh in lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha forcing the Opposition to question government’s intention in controlling crime.
While replying to a question of SP member Sanjay Garg during Question Hour on Tuesday, State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said that communal riots were reported only from Bijnor and Etah between January 2017 and July 31, 2018. But the SP member said that the Union Minister of State for Home in Parliament on February 6, 2018, had informed the members through a written statement that UP had topped the number of communal incidents in 2017 with 195 incidents in which 44 people were killed.
Asserting that such discrepancy was serious as the state Home department had given different replies demanding action against the officials, Garg said the reply by the state government on his question showed that they were trying to cover up the incidents.
The state minister, though refrained from replying about the discrepancy, said that government was committed to punishing the guilty for any communal riots in the state and claimed that festivals in the state had passed off peacefully. Speaker Hridaya Narain Dixit also pointed towards the discrepancy in the reply.
The government was, however, caught on the wrong foot when SP leaders, led by leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Choudhury, raised the issue of the government’s move to withdraw cases against BJP leaders accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots.
The charges led to bluster in the House with members from both sides levelling charges against each other. Khanna, defending the government side, said that the SP, when it came to power in 2012, moved a petition to withdraw cases against terrorists, who were given life term by the court last week.
later, the SP staged a noisy walkout from the House in protest against the government over withdrawal of cases against BJP leaders in the Muzaffarnagar riots.