Amit Shah attacks ‘princes’ Rahul, Akhilesh for ‘lawlessness’ in UP

The BJP on Friday focused its poll campaign on Uttar Pradesh’s “law and order situation” — the ruling Samajwadi Party government’s Achilles heel — with party President Amit Shah calling off his padyatra in Meerut following the murder of a local businessman’s son.

Twenty-four-old Abhishek, the son of a tobacco company owner, was murdered by armed men near Meerut in western UP on Thursday night. The assailants looted the godown at gun point and opened fire when the youth resisted, killing him on the spot.

Shah cancelled his march and the party’s MPs simultaneously staged a dharna in Parliament to protest against the SP’s track record on law and order, shouting slogans such as ‘ Akhilesh ka haath goondagardi ke sath ’ (Akhilesh is with the goons; also a play on the haath (hand), the symbol of the Congress, which is in alliance with the SP).

“There has been no law and order in the State in the last five years. The time has come to uproot this government. Only BJP can bring a positive change,” Baghpat MP Satyapal Singh said. Basti MP Sharad Tripathi alleged that there is “anarchy” in the State.

Shah, meanwhile, addressed a public rally and continued his tour of western UP, addressing meetings in Khurja and Bulandshahr. Making snide references to the “two princes” — Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief and State Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav — who, he said, were “out to ruin UP”.

“ Yeh dono shehzaade milkar UP ka vikas karma nahin chahte. Yeh UP ki janta ki aankh me dhool jhonkna chahte hain. Hamne tai kiya hai ki har college mein anti-Romeo squad banayenge taki apni bachchiyon ki suraksha kar saken (These two princes do not want to develop UP. They want to defraud the people of UP. We have decided to make anti-Romeo squads in all colleges to protect our daughters),” said Shah.

Later, in a series of tweets, Shah alleged that murder, dacoity and rape have become a common occurrence in UP and claimed than “an atmosphere of fear and terror reigns in the State”.

“The morale of criminals is so high in the State that even police personnel are not safe, let alone the common man...BJP will fight for the issue of law and order in the streets of Uttar Pradesh and Parliament as well. Restoring the law and order and sending criminals behind bars will be our priority after a BJP government is formed,” he tweeted.

Citing figures, he said cases of 24 rapes, 13 murders, 33 kidnappings, 19 riots and 136 thefts occur daily in the State, leading to 7,650 incidents of crime per day. “UP has become the country’s crime capital,” he said.

Later in the day, the BJP asserted that there was no rule of law in Uttar Pradesh and that the crime graph had steadily risen according to the State government’s own data. “While the entire State is witnessing lawlessness, both princes, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, are busy in political rallies. Why are both princes silent? Do they like this ‘ goondaraj ’?” asked party spokesman Sambit Patra.

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