UP Polls: BJP says women safety is top priority, evoke Bulandshahr rape

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) volunteers, in its campaign for Pankaj Singh, said that women’s safety is among the party’s top priorities. Raising slogans of ‘Pankaj bhaiyya’, the party members also took a shot at the Samajwadi Party, citing the Bulandshahr gangrape incident.They alleged that the SP failed to ensure law and order in the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) volunteers, in its campaign for Pankaj Singh, said that women’s safety is among the party’s top priorities. Raising slogans of ‘Pankaj bhaiyya’, the party members also took a shot at the Samajwadi Party, citing the Bulandshahr gangrape incident.

BJP workers said the SP failed to enforce law and order in the state. (HT PHOTO)

They alleged that the SP failed to ensure law and order in the state.

“Today, our mothers and sisters in Noida are no longer safe. Had there been a rule of law in the state, we would not have witnessed the brutal gangrape in Bulandshahr. Both Samajawadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have made women in Noida live in fear,” Surajpal Rana, president, Sainik Vihar BJP mandal, said.

On July 29, a Ghaziabad woman and her minor daughter were gangraped near a highway in Bulandshahr. The ruling SP faced criticism from political opponents and residents for its failure to curb crime against women.

“The (gangrape) incident proved how helpless the police and administration have become. Apart from being BJP volunteers, we are residents of Noida and for years, we have experienced the apathy of the ruling state. That is why we have decided to campaign for BJP’s victory in the state. Only our party can ensure that mothers and sisters can roam freely without fear,” Keshav Chauhan, coordinator, Sector 45 BJP mandal, said.

BJP’s candidate for the Noida constituency, Pankaj Singh, expressed his desire to improve the law and order situation in the district.

“People who commit such heinous crimes (in reference to the Bulandshahr incident) must be punished severely. Our priority is the safety of women and we will ensure it,” Singh.

However, not everyone in Noida believes that the BJP will curb crime. Witnessing the campaign trail, 58-year-old Azad Singh of Harijan Basti in Sector 37, who works as a tailor, said that neither Akhilesh Yadav nor the BJP has the ‘intent’ to improve on the crime rate.

“Everyone in Noida knows that there is only one person who can keep criminals at bay and keep the crime register clean, and that is Mayawati. She has, time and again, proved her mettle. Both SP and BJP lack the intent to ensure women’s safety,” Singh said.