After a special court on Friday, 18 February, pronounced death sentence to 38 out of the 49 convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that the father of a convict in the case is a leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and is also campaigning for the in the party in the ongoing Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
After Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed on Friday that one of the accused hails from Sanjarpur in Azamgarh and slammed SP chief Akhilesh Yadav for "harbouring terrorists," Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday addressed the media to provide details of the leader in question.
"The BJP has zero tolerance towards terrorism but the SP gives full protection to terrorists. Speaking of the Ahmedabad serial blasts case, people lost their lives and the links were directly connected to SP leaders in UP. No wonder SP leaders are silent even after the court's verdict," he said.
"One of the convicts, Mohammad Saif, who was the mastermind, is the son of SP leader Shabad Ahmed. As you can see, he is standing with the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, you can see the UP government logo in the backdrop. Will Akhilesh Yadav or SP leaders break their silence on the matter?" Thakur asked as he flashed two images, and accused the SP of turning Azamgarh into a hub of terrorists.
As Thakur went on to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Adityanath's steps against terrorism, he asked if Yadav has been "feeding Biryani" to terrorists.
The allegations by the BJP come just a day before Yadav is set to contest his maiden Assembly election from Karhal in Manipuri district, a region which is considered to be the stronghold of the Samajwadi Party.
Polling for the third phase of UP elections is set to take place on 20 February, with most most constituencies, popularly called as the "Yadav belt," set to cast their ballots.
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