SP has links with terrorists involved in 2008 Ahmedabad blasts, alleges BJP

The claims by Thakur came a day ahead of the third phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP and the SP are locked in a direct contest

The BJP on Saturday accused Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav of shielding terrorists. Union ministers Amit Shah and Anurag Thakur levelled charges of appeasement of terrorists against Akhilesh a day ahead of the third phase of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

In a press conference in Delhi, Thakur said that the accused in the 2008 blasts that took place in Ahmedabad has links with the Samajwadi Party. Thakur shared pictures of Akhilesh with Sadaf Ahmed whose son Mohammed Saif is an accused in the blast that took place when PM Narendra Modi was Gujarat CM.

Alleging that Akhilesh is a “terror appeaser”, Thakur said that the BJP welcomes the judgement by the Court.

“The quantum of sentence was pronounced against 49 convicts; 38 were sentenced to capital punishment, and 11 to life imprisonment,” Thakur said.

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Thakur questioned Akhilesh’s silence over the judgement. “One of these 49, Mohammmad Saif is the son of SP leader Shadab Ahmed. Why is Akhilesh silent over this matter? These photos show him with the then CM Akhilesh Yadav. Did Akhilesh Yadav call Shadab Ahmed over biryani while his son was the mastermind and involved in the 2008 blasts,” Thakur said.

These allegations came to the fore just as a special court in Ahmedabad sentenced 49 of the 80 accused on Friday.

In Banda, at a rally, Shah said that a vote for SP was a vote for terrorism.

“If by any chance the cycle govt (Samajwadi Party) comes to power, Uttar Pradesh will supply terrorism all over the country,” Shah alleged, adding that under the Akhilesh government, 2,000 farmers lost their lives due to hunger during famine.

In the third phase of the elections, scheduled for Sunday, 59 seats will go to the polls. In the first and second phases, 113 seats went to the polls. The 403 member assembly has elections in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. Results will be declared on March 10.

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