BJP behind Padmaavat violence, says Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday alleged that the BJP leaders were responsible for the protests and violence against controversial film Padmaavat.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Yadav said that on one hand, the BJP governments were pretending to control the law and order situation and, on the other, were promoting protests. He said that the BJP was vitiating the atmosphere in the country and demanded that the CCTV footage of violence should be screened to identify the people behind the protests.

Mr Yadav slammed the Yogi Adityanath government on the law and order issue and said that the state police was working to appease the BJP leaders. He questioned the number of encounters being carried out by the police and said that despite this, the law and order was worsening by the day. “The kinds of incidents that are taking place indicate that criminals have become fearless. The brutal double murder in Meerut and the jeweller’s murder in Mathura are example of this. The spate of dacoities on the outskirts of the state capital also point to breakdown of the law and order,” he said.

Senior Samajwadi Party leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Ahmed Hasan also claimed that the controversy has been whipped up by the BJP.

“It is a part of the BJP’s conspiracy to divert the attention of common man from burning issues,” he said.