On a day when the Modi government was celebrating two years in office, the ruling Samajwadi Party mounted a blistering attack on the BJP, accusing it of fanning communal passions in Uttar Pradesh.
On a day when the Modi government was celebrating two years in office, the ruling Samajwadi Party mounted a blistering attack on the BJP, accusing it of fanning communal passions in Uttar Pradesh.
The Akhilesh government and the Samajwadi Party, which have been facing flak for allowing the Bajrang Dal arms training camp to be held in Ayodhya, has not only broken its silence but has started retaliating at the BJP with full force.
The Samajwadi offensive comes a day after BJP president Amit Shah said in Delhi that the SP was the main rival of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.
Samajwadi Party spokesman and senior minister Rajendra Chaudhary told this correspondent that chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s apprehensions regarding attempts to malign his image and disturb communal harmony had come true with this incident.
“In the name of self-defence, the Bajrang Dal camp was undoubtedly a move to fuel communal passions. The BJP is trying to justify such events by using self-defence as an excuse. It is such forces that are trying to divert the people towards the blind alley of communalism,” he said.
The Samajwadi spokesman justified the delay in taking action against Bajrang Dal activist and said, “The camp was held in Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya which is not a public place. It was only when the video clips went viral that we got to know of what was going on inside. The government immediately acted and a case was registered and some arrests were made,” he explained.
Mr Chaudhary slammed UP governor Ram Naik for defending the controversial Bajrang Dal camp. “RSS activists who now occupy constitutional posts should learn to honour the dignity of their positions instead of fanning communalism,” he said.
Another senior minister in the Akhilesh government, Arvind Singh Gope, also slammed the BJP for putting the communal cauldron on the boil in Uttar Pradesh on the eve of Assembly elections. “We are aware that the RSS and its affiliated organisations will revive issues like conversion, ghar wapsi and love jihad to stir the communal cauldron. What is worse is the fact that the BJP, which is in power at the Centre, is tacitly, in fact openly, supporting such attempts. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is fully aware of the situation and will not allow such forces to succeed,” he said.
Mr Gope said that the chief minister had made sincere efforts to focus on his development agenda and the party as well as government would not allow anyone to disturb this. “In any case, the opposition has been trying to pursue a negative campaign against us but we will thwart all such attempts”, he warned.
