BJP-SP spar over communal clashes in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday lashed out at the Samajwadi Party (SP) for levelling what it claimed were "unsubstantiated charges" against the party with regard to the communal tension in Uttar Pradesh.

Reacting to a statement from cabinet minister and state SP spokesman Rajendra Chowdhary that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) had a hand in the communal clashes in the state, BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the comments were not only "baseless but also diversionary".

"As in the past, the ruling party is trying to cover its misdeeds, incompetence and failure to maintain law and order," said Pathak.

"Rajendra Chowdhary has alleged that the opposition is rattled by development work by Akhilesh Yadav and the people involved in recent communal violence are the ones that were behind the Muzaffarnagar riots… they have police, intelligence… why don't they act," he asked.

Uttar Pradesh in the past few days has been witness to communal clashes in at least ten districts. On September 28, a man was lynched by an angry mob in Dadri over for allegedly eating beef.

(IANS)