Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, 21 October, commented on a recent meeting between Delhi riots-accused activist Umar Khalid's father and politician Akhilesh Yadav, and said that the two were were hatching a conspiracy.
Addressing a Samajik Pratinidhi Sammelan in Lucknow on Thursday, Adityanath said, “Opposition parties can go to any extent. You must have seen who recently came to meet with a party. Umar Khalid’s father. Umar Khalid who says ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’,” news agency PTI reported.
Khalid's father and president of the Welfare Party of India, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, had met Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on 2 October.
“That person (Khalid’s father) comes to meet the Samajwadi Party president and assures him not to worry as he is hatching a conspiracy for the party,” Adityanath said, The Indian Express reported.
The chief minister's comments come ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, to be held in 2022.
Khalid, who had been arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been in prison for over a year now in connection with the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.
'Congress, BSP, SP Threw State in Fire of Riots': Adityanath.
Chief Minister Adityanath, addressing the gathering in Lucknow, said, “Whether it was the Congress, SP or the BSP government, they all tore the social fabric in the name of casteism and threw the state in the fire of riots.”
He asserted that the security situation in the state had improved only after the coming of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2017.
“They had mortgaged the state to the mafia but after the BJP government took over with your blessings, not only proper security arrangements were made, but it was also ensured that no mafia element can now walk with its head raised.”Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, as quoted by PTI
“If we promote nationalism while avoiding casteism, we will be able to lead both the country and the society on the path of welfare,” he further said.
Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, likely to be held during February-March 2022, will see parties contesting for 403 Assembly constituencies.
The BJP, which presently holds a majority in the state, had won the 2017 polls with an overwhelming mandate of 312 seats. The elections are critically significant for the BJP to maintain its heft at the Centre.
(With inputs from PTI and The Indian Express)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)