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SP govt fights ‘goondaraj’ tag as lawlessness soars in state
In power, the Samajwadi Party has a familiar problem on hand — the image of being a government under which lawlessness increases.
In power, the Samajwadi Party has a familiar problem on hand — the image of being a government under which lawlessness increases.
Recently, during the debate on general budget, leader of the opposition Swami Prasad Maurya charged the SP with ‘goondaraj’, an old tag chief minister Akhilesh Yadav detests.
The Bahujan Samaj Party leader cited crime data to justify his charge. But the state crime record bureau data shows the BSP rule was no better.
In 2011, with BSP in power, the state saw more than 2,870 murders. In one year of SP rule, 2,652 murders have been recorded.
A microanalysis of the crime data of Jhansi range shows 108 cases of rape in 2011 against 90 such cases in 2012. The numbers, however, offer little respite to the SP because communal tension has repeatedly reared its head.
According to a Union home ministry report, nearly 100 cases of communal tension and violence were reported across the country in 2012, leaving 34 dead and 456 injured.
Significantly, every third death in communal clashes in the country occurred in UP. Mathura, Faizabad, Pratapgarh and Bareilly witnessed destruction of property in clashes.
