Zee Media Bureau/Manisha Singh
New Delhi: In March last year, when Akhilesh Yadav became the youngest chief minister of India and occupied the top post in Uttar Pradesh, much was expected from him, After all he had won a massive mandate on the plank of good governance with improved law and order. However, more than a year down the line he is increasingly being seen as a man who has completely lost the plot.
The recent violence in Uttar Pradesh which killed more than 45 people has brought the UP CM under the scanner and he has been in the firing line from all quarters. The ruling Samajwadi Party has been accused of going slow and turning a blind eye when the riot-hit areas in Western UP were burning. The SP has denied any complicity in what happened in Muzaffarnagar and has blamed its rival political parties for stirring up communal tension.
However, even as the blame game continues with all parties, cutting across political lines, trying to gain political mileage out of what has happened in the state recently, Akhilesh Yadav is being asked questions that he probably needs to answer to those who voted him to power.
1. Why did he not take prompt action when initial violence was reported from Muzaffarnagar? Why did the state government and the administration not take preventive measures when it had information about tension brewing in the district even after an alert from the Centre on the possibility of full-fledged riots breaking out in the area?
2. Did Akhilesh`s government deliberately ask the administration to go slow, so that it could take advantage of the communal violence in the state in order to polarise votes, as 2014 General Elections are round the corner. Did it ask the police not to arrest certain members of a particular community for vote-bank politics?
3. Why did Akhilesh not back his police officers when they wanted to act against rioters? And why were the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Muzaffarnagar transferred? Why was a mahapanchayat allowed to take place in the district even though prohibitory orders were in place?
4. Why has the government not yet arrested those MLAs and MPs against whom a warrant has been issued for inciting communal violence in the region? And why no warrant has been issued against SP leader Rashid Siddiqui, who has been accused of making a hate speech in the riot-hit district.
5. Also why has the CM not acted against senior SP leader and UP minister Azam Khan who has been accused of influencing the police during riots as shown in a sting operation by a TV channel?
