UP govt did not act on Centre`s warnings: Shriprakash Jaiswal

Raipur: Union Coal Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal on Monday accused the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh of failing to act on warnings by Centre about the designs to instigate communal violence in the state.

"The Union Home Ministry has been alerting the state government for a long time that attempts can be made to disturb communal harmony in UP. It is unfortunate that the state government did not take serious steps, otherwise it (the riots in Muzaffarnagar) could have been averted," Jasiwal said here. He was here to attend the concluding ceremony of three- day 30th plenary session of Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC). "Presently it is the duty of every responsible person to control the situation there at any cost. Therefore I would not like to extensively comment on it. But the serious law and order situation in UP is revealed by these incidents," he said. On a question about missing files of coal-block allocation scam, he said, "The search is on. An inter-ministerial committee has been constituted. Those documents which will be found will be handed over to CBI, and as to the rest, CBI would register an FIR." Jaiswal also hit out at BJP government in Chhattisgarh and said, "When the state government cannot control alleged corruption in mining. When it cannot provide safety to senior Congress leaders (who were killed in Darbha Naxal attack), then one can imagine the condition of the government here." About the projection of Rahul Gandhi as Congress`s Prime Ministerial candidate, he said, "Congress workers see Rahul Gandhi as an ideal choice but it is upto him to decide. PTI