Improve or face music, Akhilesh warns officials

Facing flak for alleged law and order breakdown since the installation of his government, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday served an ultimatum to officials to improve the situation or face action.

Akhilesh, who chaired a meeting of about 500 IAS and IPS officers here, said that law and order remained on top of the government’s agenda. He gave 15 days time to the officials saying that any failure would invite action.

The chief minister, who has been under attack from his opponents for his alleged failure on checking crime, said that there was a direct relationship between development and law and order. “There will be no compromise on this count,” he said.

The Samajwadi  Party (SP), which capture power in the recently concluded Assembly polls, had promised to turn the state a safer place. The incidents during the past few days have, however, threaten to cast a shadow on Akhilesh’s capability to deliver.

Akhilesh, who interacted with the officials for the first time after assuming office, also told the officials not to buckle under political pressure and work in an unbiased manner. His instructions assume significance in the wake of incidents of SP workers roughing up cops in different parts of the state.

The crime graph in the state has shot up after the SP government assumed office The incidents of crime against women have registered a sharp rise giving sleepless nights to the authorities.

The opposition parties have launhed a scathing attacked on the government on this count. “The goonda raj has returned in the state with the return of SP,” said BSP state president Swami Prasad Maurya. 

The BJP and the Congress have also criticised the government for its “failure” to control the shooting crime graph.

SP workers have been indulging in violence and attacking their political opponents. In some villages, the Dalits, traditional supporters of the BSP, have fled their homes though the government denied the same. Many SP leaders and at least one SP MLA have been booked for assaulting policemen and others causing much embarrassment to Akhilesh government.