UP govt carrying out encounters with eye on polls: Akhilesh at Ambedkar’s birthplace
The SP president pays tribute to the chief architect of the Constitution at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh on his birth anniversary
Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government was carrying out encounters with an eye on polls. His statement came a day after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad’s son Asad and an aide, both accused in the February 24 Umesh Pal murder case in Prayagraj, were killed by an STF team in Jhansi.
Addressing a press conference at the Indore Press Club after paying tribute to Dr Ambedkar at his birthplace Mhow on his birth anniversary, he said the Constitution, of which the former was the chief architect, was under threat.
Earlier, Samajwadi Party’s long-standing ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary and another ally Azad Samaj Party (ASP) chief Chandrashekhar Azad accompanied Akhilesh when he went to pay tribute to Dr Ambedkar at the Ambedkar memorial in Mhow. The SP chief addressed the press conference alone though.
“Institutions are being finished one after the other and (Bharatiya Janata Party) governments (at the Centre and in UP) are working to destroy the Constitution Babasaheb gave us,” Akhilesh said. When asked about Thursday’s encounter, the SP chief said, “From the very first day, (the Uttar Pradesh) BJP government is indulging in fake encounters with an eye on polls.”
However, on being asked about allegations that Atiq Ahmed had connections to Pakistani elements, he said “What can I say about the connections he has and with whom?.” He slammed the UP government for action against a mother-daughter duo in Kanpur, during which their houses were bulldozed and burnt down, leading to both losing their lives.
He also alleged a promising student leader was killed in Ballia by those belonging to the “caste of the (UP) chief minister”. “Is it an India where you can kill a weaker person? Is it an India where we won’t get our Constitutional rights?” the SP chief asked.
He asked why Uttar Pradesh received the maximum number of notices from the National Human Rights Commission (for police action like encounters), adding that the UP also led in the number of custodial deaths. “Officers are working under pressure of the government”, he alleged.
Talking about the three—Akhilesh Yadav, Jayant Chaudhary and Chandrashekar—together at the event, Akhilesh said: “We are all enthused with fresh energy induced from Babasaheb’s birthplace. We have pledged to follow the path shown by Dr Ambedkar...Today the Constitution made by him is under threat. We have pledged to protect the Constitution and poor and deprived people.”
After the visit, Chandrashekar Azad tweeted with pictures: “...We have pledged to safeguard the Constitution and get it implemented fully in the country”. Jayant also tweeted the pictures of him along with those of Akhilesh and Chandrashekar at the Ambedkar Memorial in Mhow and wrote: “Baba Saheb amar rahen”. (With PTI inputs)
