A photograph of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, allegedly with main accused of the recent Saharanpur violence, Muharram Ali, has gone viral and snowballed into a controversy.
The chief minister office issued a clarification on Saturday, saying: “Some people with malaise and an intention to mislead people and tarnish the image of the UP government were circulating the picture.”
The photo was rumoured to have been shot on April 1 at Akhilsh Yadav’s official residence at 5, Kalidas Marg and was extracted from the social networking site of a Samajwadi Party leader. The picture has Akhilesh Yadav surrounded by nearly a dozen persons with Muharram is standing on the extreme left of the picture.
“The news related to the photo of the CM with an accused in the Saharanpur incident, along with other persons, is baseless and misleading,” says the press release from the chief minister’s office.
The release explained that the CM meets a number of people in a day and that making a baseless comment on the basis of a photo is not indicative of healthy democratic traditions, the release adds.
The statement also says the accused has already been arrested and legal proceedings are on against him. All those who were involved in disturbing the peace in Saharanpur will not be spared and the toughest of action has already been assured, the release says.
{{/usCountry}}The statement also says the accused has already been arrested and legal proceedings are on against him. All those who were involved in disturbing the peace in Saharanpur will not be spared and the toughest of action has already been assured, the release says.
{{/usCountry}}Under such circumstances, the news about the photo on certain television channels is misleading and baseless, the release concludes.