JOIN US'Gun culture' hard to shed for SP
All attempts by new Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to remove the ‘goonda culture’ tag from the party are being thwarted by errant Samajwadi Party workers and leaders.
Guns were displayed openly and shots were fired in the air by SP workers at a welcome reception of their district chief in UP’s Fatehpur town on Monday. SP workers firing guns triggered panic among residents and they ran for safety, according to police sources. Policemen who were present at the venue remained mute spectators.
In Budaon district, SP MLA Adil Raza was booked for assaulting a person and grabbing his land at gun-point.
Mahesh Prakash, in a complaint lodged with police, alleged that Raza and four supporters confined him in a room, assaulted him and made him sign on blank papers. They also forcibly took his land, he alleged.
Concerned over indiscipline among SP workers and leaders, Akhilesh had asked his cabinet colleagues to ask party workers not to do anything that showed SP in bad light.
But barely a few days back, authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district had demolished several houses in the village of UP minister Ambika Chaudhary, allegedly on the latter’s instruction though he denied the charges.
Another minister, Durga Yadav, also was in the news after his brother and kins demolished several houses at a village in Azamgarh district and forcibly occupied their land.
Reports of SP leaders terrorising political rivals have poured in from different parts of the state since the SP government came to power. There have been incidents of beating up rivals and even killings.