UP CM shielding BJP workers behind vandalism of Fatehpur mausoleum, alleges Akhilesh Yadav

Ranchi: Accusing BJP workers of being involved in the vandalism of a mausoleum in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday alleged that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is trying to shield the culprits.

People need employment and not communal politics, said Yadav who came to Jharkhand to pay tribute to former chief minister Shibu Soren, who died on August 4, at his ancestral village Nemra in Ramgarh district.

Members of right-wing groups on Monday stormed the premises of the mausoleum and damaged graves, claiming it to be a Hindu temple site and demanding permission to offer prayers.

"What is the (UP) government doing on the Fatehpur incident? Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is trying to shield those involved. Everyone knows who they are. They are the leaders and workers of the BJP," he told reporters at Ranchi's Birsa Munda airport, while returning to Lucknow.

The BJP spreads hatred in the name of Hindus and Muslims, alleges the SP supremo.

"The Fatehpur incident was unfortunate. The government should take strict action. The people who are visible in video footage should be sent to jail. If administrative officials and police are not sending them to jail, the government should take a decision against them," Yadav said.

Yadav, a former CM of Uttar Pradesh, asserted that communal politics is damaging the country.

The BJP knows that it does not have answers to poverty and unemployment.

"Communal politics should come to an end in the country. People should get employment," he added.

He said that the BJP has adopted British ideology that is "divide and rule".