Centre is answerable to people on PETN recovery in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, says Samajwadi Party

Lucknow: Days after a powerful plastic explosive was found inside the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan said on Monday that those running the Centre and the state are answerable to the people about it.

“Who is answerable for this (recovery of explosive)? 125 crore people of the country ?…No. Those who are running the country and the state…They are answerable,” he said.

He said there is the Modi government at the Centre and Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh. Powerful plastic explosive PETN (Pentaerythritol tetranitrate) was recovered from the UP Assembly on July 12.

Asked about allegations by the BJP regarding poor quality of work being conducted during the previous SP regime, Khan said, “The works done under the previous regime should not be undone. They should try to do better work than SP.”

Replying to questions regarding allegations of anomalies in the Maulana Jauhar University in Rampur and state government’s reported move to conduct a probe into it, Khan said, “I have opened the university for teaching students and not any liquor shop…The government should tell when it is initiating the probe,” he said.

On cross-voting in SP with Shivpal Singh Yadav reportedly voting for Ram Nath Kovind, he said, “Everyone should have followed the instructions of the party’s national president (Akhilesh Yadav).”