Lucknow: Hitting out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for claiming that the main accused in the Sonbhadra clash was a Samajwadi Party (SP) member, the opposition party Sunday said the CM was levelling allegations against it only to hide his failures.
Talking to this agency SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary denied the charge that the main accused in the clash over a land dispute that claimed the lives of 10 Gond tribals, Wednesday had any connection with his party.
“Yogi Adityanath is trying to hide his failures by indulging in such useless talks. How can the BJP shrug off the responsibility as regards the crime committed in Sonbhadra? Law and order and the safety and security of people are the responsibilities of the state government,” Chaudhary said.
Claiming that the ruling BJP did not want the world to know about the anarchy prevailing in Uttar Pradesh, the SP leader said, “It (BJP) is unable to run the government in the state. The piece of land over which the clash took place was in dispute for years. The affected people had approached the officials during the tehsil diwas and thana diwas, but their grievances went unheard.”
Chaudhury also rubbished the claims of Yogi Adityanath regarding the accused. “Adityanath is making incorrect statements. Yagyadutt (the main accused) does not have any connection with the SP.”
Later, in a statement issued by the party, Chaudhary said that SP leaders and party workers will participate in a campaign – ‘Sonbhadra kooch karo abhiyaan’ to register their protests over the death of 10 persons.
Earlier, addressing a press conference in Sonbhadra, the UP Chief Minister had said, “The accused person in this incident is a worker of the Samajwadi Party. He has an active role in the Samajwadi Party.”
Ten persons were killed and 28 injured in the clash in Sonbhadra after a village headman and his supporters opened fire on a group of tribals over a land dispute.
PTI