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Who will take responsibility for Odisha train tragedy, asks Akhilesh

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the government of cheating people over developing safety equipment and armour after the Odisha train accident. He also questioned who would take responsibility for the triple train collision. Yadav alleged a particular community and people were being targeted and criminals of a particular class were not being held accountable. He also criticised the government's response to women wrestlers protesting against a WFI president. Yadav said he met the chief ministers of Bengal, Telangana, and Bihar and agreed that regional parties would fight the Lok Sabha elections together for opposition unity.

Updated on: Jun 4, 2023, 23:06:39 IST
By , VARANASI
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Targeting the Centre over Odisha train accident, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged that the government had cheated people in the name of developing equipment and safety armour to stop such mishaps.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. (HT file photo)
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. (HT file photo)

He also said the BJP people talked of triple engine government, asking as to who will own the responsibility for Friday’s triple train collision. The SP chief was interacting with media persons at the residence of his namesake and party MLA Akhilesh Yadav from Mubarakpur in Surai village of Azamgarh district.

Taking a jibe on the allegations of attack on police by Kannauj MP Subrat Pathak, Yadav asked where police will go to hide now. “Will they have to hide behind the bulldozer? This is what happens when BJP people start attacking the police,” he said. Yadav alleged that the law and order situation in the state was at a standstill. “Only a particular community and particular people are being targeted,” he alleged.

Akhilesh also alleged that the BJP government was running JCB machine only at the homes of the backward, the minorities and the poor. “No action is being taken against criminals of a particular class,” he alleged. On being asked that BJP repeatedly called Azamgarh a “nursery of terror”, Akhilesh termed it an insult to the district.

On the wrestlers’ issue, he said, “The BJP government gives the slogan of ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ but this is done only to get the votes of women. Women wrestlers staged a dharna demanding action against outgoing WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. However, the government didn’t take any action against him.”

On the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said he met the chief ministers of West Bengal, Telangana and Bihar separately. “It has been decided in the talks with them that all regional parties will fight the Lok Sabha elections strongly in their respective areas and whatever number of seats they get, they will unite with other parties for opposition’s unity,” the SP chief added. He said he had received an invitation to attend a meeting on opposition unity in Patna on June 12. He said he will attend the meeting.