Akhilesh alleges UP officials being pressured into corruption, false cases

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday, August 30, alleged that honest government officials in Uttar Pradesh were being pressured under the BJP government to indulge in "unethical and illegal" activities.

In a post on X, Yadav listed several instances of what he claimed was pressure being exerted on officials in the state.

He alleged that officials were being pushed into corruption through commissions, asked to manipulate tenders to benefit BJP workers and pressured to turn transfers and postings into a source of income. He also alleged that officials were being made to facilitate collections through donation slips.

The SP chief further alleged that officials were being pressured to register false cases against Opposition leaders, suppress cases related to custodial deaths, facilitate fake encounters of political opponents and extort money by threatening encounters.

Yadav claimed officials were also being asked to conceal cases involving atrocities against PDA (backwards, Dalits and minorities) communities, extort money from businessmen, suppress rape and kidnapping cases and overlook alleged encroachments by BJP workers.

He alleged that officials faced pressure to facilitate the movement of goods across state borders, pass off adulterated products as genuine and ignore alleged harassment of farmers, labourers, women and youth.

The SP chief also alleged that officials were being asked to suppress cases of untouchability, avoid registering FIRs in temple theft cases in Ayodhya and protect influential individuals through what he described as a "cover-up".

"There are countless other instances where the BJP government puts pressure on officials to carry out unethical and illegal acts, because of which they are even forced to resign," Yadav said in his post.

"Governance and administration cannot function without honest officials," he added.

Yadav's remarks came after IAS officer Divya Mittal, a 2013-batch officer, announced her resignation from the service on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, while addressing a press conference at the SP headquarters in Lucknow, Yadav alleged that the state government was spending Rs 7,000 crore to improve its image.

"The truth is that if they (BJP government) even spends Rs 70,000 crore, their image is not going to improve," he said.