New Delhi: Firebrand BJP MP Yogi Adityanath has compared the situation in western Uttar Pradesh to that in Kashmir in 1990s, when Kashmiri Pandits had to flee the Valley, while the party defended its leaders over their controversial remarks during the poll campaign on alleged exodus of Hindu families from Kairana.
“Western Uttar Pradesh is following in the footsteps of Kashmir. In 1990, Kashmir Pandits were forced to migrate in large numbers.
“Crime, corruption and ‘goondaraj’ are at their peak in Uttar Pradesh. Like there was exodus in Kashmir in 1990, similar is the situation in Kairana (in Shamli) and other districts where the failure to act shows that the criminals are emboldened….
“Till when will the state government continue its vote bank politics at the cost of security in the state,” the Gorakhpur MP said at election meetings in Loni and Sahibabad last evening.
His remarks came even as BJP MLA Suresh Rana, an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, was booked yesterday by Uttar Pradesh Police on charges of inciting hatred after he said at a meeting that curfew will be imposed in Kairana, Deoband and Moradabad if he is elected again in assembly polls next month.
Asked about Aditynath’s remarks, BJP’s UP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya today said that the situation in Western Uttar Pradesh was “very bad” and accused the Samajwadi Party government of giving patronage to goons who were responsible for migration of people.
“Something which has happened due to the failure of the government and if some of our leaders have talked about it, what wrong have they done,” he said when asked if action will be taken against the leaders for their alleged communal remarks.
Kicking up a row, BJP MP Hukum Singh had in June last year claimed that close to 350 Hindus had left Kairana over alleged threats and extortion by criminal elements belonging to a particular community. Singh, however, had later done a U-turn saying it was not a communal matter.
He had alleged that the ruling Samajwadi Party was preventing action against anti-social elements responsible for the exodus since they happened to be its supporters, a charge rejected by the state government.
Sticking to his remarks, Adityanath today insisted that these should should not be seen as communal.
“I have not named any caste, community, religion. We are not dividing people on the ground of religion. It is not communal politics,” he insisted.
“The situation in western UP is akin to what happened in Kashmir in 1990s. I ask people there, do not elect those who have caused this migration. The BJP is giving you a guarantee of security.
“If elected to power, the BJP will ensure that migration doesn’t take place from these regions, district collectors will be responsible for this. A special task force will be formed for the purpose,” he told reporters on Parliament premises. .