BJP men involved in Bahraich communal violence, rioters given 'free hand' like in Hitler's time: Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday alleged that BJP workers were involved in the recent communal violence in Bahraich and claimed this used to happen during the time of German dictator Hitler when rioters were given a "free hand" to commit violence.

Talking to reporters at the party's state headquarters here, he said, "If anyone did the work of rioting in Bahraich, it was BJP leaders who were involved in it. Their MLA is filing FIR against own party workers for conspiring to cause riots."

"A video is also going viral. I want to congratulate the journalist who mustered the courage to get information from the hidden camera video that (during the violence in Maharajganj of Bahraich) the police administration was not present on the spot for several hours and they (rioters) were given a free hand," the SP chief said.

"This is how Hitler used to work. Hitler used to send his party workers wearing police uniforms to the front. The police were removed and riots were allowed to happen," he claimed.Yadav said this incident was done because the people of the BJP are scared as they have no answer to inflation and unemployment.

"They are snatching away reservations. They do not want to let the system be implemented under the Constitution," he said.

The former chief minister, while alleging misuse of administrative machinery to create disturbances in the by-elections of nine assembly seats of the state, said, "People of PDA (backward, Dalit and minority) family have all united. This time they (BJP) may conspire as much as they want... but it is being heard that the district magistrate has become the district president of BJP."

Giving an example of Ambedkar Nagar, he said the district magistrate there has become the district president of BJP and is looking for pradhans and ration shop owners and threatening them.

Hitting out at the officers, Yadav said, "Is this what is taught in the IAS academy? Have these people been trained for this? We will put up the pictures of these officers and say that they have become officer bearers of the BJP." Yadav alleged that in Kanpur, the party candidate was given the wrong form so that his nomination is rejected adding that his party would complain about this to the Election Commission.

"The law and order in the state has become zero to such an extent that incidents are happening with the police itself. An incident (rape) happened with a woman constable in Kanpur and Rs 25 lakh was taken by the police. This is not the case in only one district but in every district," he also alleged.

In Uttar Pradesh, senior police officers are saying that they are suspended for taking action against the rioters, he claimed, adding it seems that the BJP has handcuffed the police itself.

When asked about the Supreme Court's stay on bulldozer action in Bahraich, Yadav said, "Justice will not be achieved until the Supreme Court or the people's court removes the BJP." On a question that Congress state president Ajay Rai had demanded five seats out of the 10 assembly seats in the by-elections but the SP has agreed to only two, Yadav said, "We will discuss." Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav also blamed the BJP for the Bahraich incident.

"This incident was done by the people of the BJP. The BJP MLA has himself filed an FIR against the BJP people," he said in Sultanpur.

"There is no such thing as law and order in the state. Murders are happening continuously, rapes are happening, the BJP has completely lost the trust of the people, and the entire administration is in the hands of the bureaucracy," he said.

Police lodged another FIR over the Bahraich incident against seven people, including an office bearer of the BJYM's city unit, on rioting and other charges based on a complaint of BJP MLA from Mahsi Sureshwar Singh, officials had said on Monday.

They said this was the 12th FIR registered so far in the Mahrajganj violence case. A 22-year-old man was shot dead in Mahrajganj on October 13 during a dispute over loud music during a Durga idol immersion procession. The incident led to communal violence, followed by incidents of arson and vandalism.

Based on the complaint lodged by the BJP MLA on October 18 at the Kotwali police station in Bahraich, the case was registered against Arpit Srivastava, Anuj Singh Raikwar, Shubham Mishra, Kushmendra Chaudhary, Manish Chandra Shukla, Pundrik Pandey and Sudhanshu Singh Rana, besides an unknown rioting mob.