Addressing a BJP meeting in Uttar Pradesh’s Muradnagar on Saturday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath invoked the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots to slam the Samajwadi Party. He claimed, “More than 60 Hindus were killed and over 1,500 imprisoned during the Muzaffarnagar riots The caps of Samajwadi Party leaders are painted with the blood of innocent Ram Bhakts.”
More than 60 people were killed and over 40,000 displaced during the Muzaffarnagar communal riots in Uttar Pradesh in 2013. At the time, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party was in power.
Attacking the Samajwadi Party further, Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday, “They have fielded candidates who are responsible for the Kairana exodus and the Muzaffarnagar riots. If you want this not to be repeated, vote for the BJP. If you want the property of rioters and mafias to be bulldozed, vote for the BJP. A few mafia candidates might be flexing their muscles now but after March 10, they will be begging for mercy at police stations.”
“Muradnagar janta [people] wants to vote against ‘gunda raj’ of Samajwadi Party but are upset as civic development has been slow,” he said.
He added, “Those who couldn’t provide electricity supply in their tenure are now making poll promises of 300 units of free electricity. I had asked Akhilesh ji how many houses he constructed for the poor. He didn’t commit any mistake while building his own home. But he committed a mistake while constructing houses for the poor.”
Yogi Adityanath also promised that the Hindu pilgrimage, Kanwar Yatra, would not be banned or stopped under the BJP government. The pilgrimage was called off in Uttar Pradesh in 2021 on account of the Covid-19 pandemic after the Supreme Court advised the state government to do so.
‘ONE WAY TO TREAT OPPN – BULLDOZER’: CM YOGI
The Samajwadi Party is not the only Opposition party that Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath attacked on Saturday. He was quoted by ANI news agency as saying, “Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) or Congress – none offer security or good governance. There is a competition between SP and BSP to give tickets to the biggest criminal. If these criminals become MLAs, they will produce guns, not flowers, and there is only one way to treat them – JCB and bulldozer.”