Samajwadi Party fielding ‘criminal elements’, says UP CM during Ghaziabad visit

With campaigning by political parties for the upcoming assembly elections gaining momentum, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath trained his guns on Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday and accused the rival party of giving tickets to “criminal elements” in western Uttar Pradesh

With campaigning by political parties for the upcoming assembly elections gaining momentum, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath trained his guns on Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday and accused the rival party of giving tickets to “criminal elements” in western Uttar Pradesh.

Ghaziabad, India - Jan. 17, 2022: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addresses the gathering during an inspection visit at Santosh Hospital Covid-19 centre, at Old Bus stand, in Ghaziabad, India, on Monday, January 17, 2022. (Photo by Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

The chief minister was in Ghaziabad on Monday for a review of the Covid-19 situation.

The first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections is scheduled to be held on February 10 and comprises 58 assembly segments in 11 districts, including Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar.

Adityanath spoke at length about the work his government had done to combat the pandemic and lashed out at the SP in reply to a question posed by the media.

“We all know that during the past five years, our government has cracked down hard and instilled fear among professional criminals and goonda elements and that gave a secure environment to people. The face of the SP has come to fore from Kairana to Bulandshahr, Siyana and Loni where they have fielded candidates involved in the exodus of Hindu traders from Kairana and even those who were behind the Muzaffarnagar riots besides professional history sheeters,” Adityanath said during a media briefing at Santosh Medical College, in response to a query on why SP was not issuing a list and only allotting symbols.

Before the 2014 general elections, the riots in August and September of 2013 between Jats and Muslims in Muzaffarnagar had left 60 people dead and displaced nearly 50,000. In 2016, a few BJP leaders alleged that there was an exodus of Hindus from the Muslim-dominated town of Kairana in Shamli district. However, a five-member team of Hindu seers in June 2016 (during the Samajwadi Party government) contradicted the BJP’s claims of an exodus but said there was an atmosphere of fear in the town because of criminals.

The issue of exodus was raised by BJP’s Kairana MP, late Hukum Singh, and his daughter Mriganka Singh is the BJP candidate from Kairana this time.

Later, during the 2017 state assembly elections, the BJP banked heavily on the issue of rising crime in Uttar Pradesh and promised that it will crack down hard on criminal elements after coming to power.

“By giving tickets to these criminal elements, the SP has brought to fore its actual character and its first list has proved it. With this, the party has proved that they are trying to project people who are against social justice, Dalits, the poor, backward classes, traders and the common man. They have not strayed from their inherent habits and such habits don’t improve easily,” Adityanath said.

Adityanath’s attack on SP comes on the heels of several prominent OBC (other backward classes) leaders from the BJP jumping ship to the SP. They include former UP ministers Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh Saini and Dara Singh Chauhan, among others.

Responding to Adityanath’s comments, the SP alleged that the chief minister has violated the model code of conduct.

“The chief minister was on an official visit to Ghaziabad and should not have made political comments and it amounts to election campaigning. There are lot of people in the BJP with criminal records and the actual standing of the BJP will come to the fore after the first phase of elections. The SP will win the elections with a thumping majority,” said Rashid Malik, Ghaziabad president, Samajwadi Party.

The SP has not filed any complaint in the matter as yet. District election officer, RK Singh, who is also district magistrate, did not respond to calls.

In Ghaziabad, the BJP as well as the SP along with its ally the Rashtriya Lok Dal have fielded candidates from all five assembly segments of Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad and Modinagar.

The BJP has fielded all five sitting MLAs in Ghaziabad as well as all three incumbent MLAs from seats of Noida, Jewar and Dadri in Gautam Budh Nagar.

In 2017, the BJP assumed power in Uttar Pradesh after contesting on 384 seats and winning 312 seats. This led to ouster of the government of the Samajwadi Party which contested on 311 seats and won only on 47.

“The BJP primarily won the previous elections on the issue of safety and security in the state. Adityanath in his address today tried to make people realise that his party was tougher on criminals than the previous governments and has brought the issue to the fore once again,” said KK Sharma, associate professor (history) at MM College, Modinagar.