SP leader Ziaur Rehman Barq.
Credit: X/@samajwadiparty
Sambhal: The Samajwadi Party's Sambhal candidate has said he will remember the 'unilateral action' after a case was registered against him for alleged inflammatory statements, and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is speaking in a language not spoken by even ministers and MLAs.
Ziaur Rehman Barq was on Monday booked for allegedly making inflammatory statements regarding gangster-politicians Atiq Ahmad and Mukhtar Ansari, officials said.
Ahmad was gunned down in police custody in Prayagraj last year while Ansari died of cardiac arrest in a hospital in Banda last month.
Speaking in the Sarai Tareen town late on Monday, Barq said, "I want to ask the Election Commission, police and administration officials, nothing is done if BJP leaders violate the model code of conduct but cases are lodged against us even if we say the right thing within limits."
"Remember, that these days will not last forever. Remember, times change. I will never forget the one-sided action taken against us," he warned.
Barq also lashed out at Modi over his recent speeches.
"We are surprised that the country's prime minister has started using the kind of language that even a minister or an MLA should not use … such words are being used for us, for our community."
"There is a constitution, this country should be run according to the Constitution. The entire opposition is contesting the elections to save the Constitution. This government wants to suppress the opposition," he alleged.
The Samajwadi Party leader also claimed that the BJP wants to change the Constitution.
"Their (BJP's) intention is to change the Constitution. In the first phase, where BJP was strong, the INDI alliance and the Samajwadi Party are now winning that phase. This storm is not going to stop till the seventh phase. This will stop only after changing the government," he asserted.
Police on Monday said four to five unidentified people besides Barq have also been named as accused in the case.
Addressing an election meeting in Sambhal on Sunday, Barq appealed to not to let the "sacrifices of Atiq Ahmad, Mukhtar Ansari and other leaders go in vain."
Circle Officer (Sambhal) Anuj Kumar said Barq portrayed "criminals as heroes" in his "objectionable speech."
He has been booked under sections 171C (undue influence in elections), 153A (promoting enmity) and 188 (disobedience) of the Indian Penal Code, Kumar said.
Sambhal will go to the polls in the third phase on May 7.