Muzaffarnagar riots, Nagpal issue brought shame to UP in 2013

Several questions were raised on Akhilesh Yadav's governance throughout the year

Uttar Pradesh was in the news in 2013 mostly for the wrong reasons be it the Muzaffarnagar riots, the killing of police officer Zia-ul-Haq or the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal.

The killing of Deputy Superintendent of Police Zia-ul-Haq along with two others in Balipur village in Pratapgarh district and a series of other incidents saw Opposition parties raising questions over Akhilesh Yadav's governance.

Haq's wife Parveen Azad accused controversial MLA and minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya of hatching the conspiracy after which the latter had to resign from the post. However, Raja Bhaiya was reinducted in the state cabinet after being given a clean chit by CBI.

The communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas, in which over 60 people were killed and thousands displaced, was another blot on the state government, which blamed BJP of triggering violence, with two of its MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana arrested by police. They were booked under National Security Act, which was later revoked by the court.

The SP government, which claimed that it fulfilled most of the promises made in its election manifesto in one-and-a-half-year of its rule, took an initiative to withdraw cases against "innocent" Muslim youths accused in serials blasts in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi.

The BJP accused it of following a policy of Muslim appeasement and the move was challenged in the court, which said that Centre's permission was required for criminal cases under central laws. The final verdict on the PIL challenging the government's move is yet to come.

The Nagpal issue haunted the state government for nearly four months. The 2009-batch IAS officer posted as sub-divisional magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar had clamped down on illegal mining and resolutely taken on the powerful sand mafia in Uttar Pradesh.

Nagpal was suspended ostensibly in connection with demolition of a wall at a disputed place of worship. The Uttar Pradesh government was quite adamant on its decision but after mounting pressure from all quarters, it finally revoked Nagpal's suspension in October.

Later, a central panel set up by Union Environment Ministry found "rampant, unscientific and illegal" mining going on at various locations in the Gautam Budh Nagar.

The year began with the grand organisation of Maha Kumbh, during which around 10 crore pilgrims took dip at the convergence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythological Saraswati at Allahabad between January 14 and March 10.

But a stampede at Allahabad railway station on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya which left at least 36 people dead and hundreds injured marred the event.

Amid all these incidents, the chase for gold at Raja Rao Ram Baksh Singh's fort at Daudiya Khera in Unnao district was among the most talked-about events of the year.

Based on the dream by seer Shobhan Sarkar, Archaeological Survey of India started excavation, making the sleepy village an attraction of the world media. The effort proved futile as ASI failed to find anything of historical relevance.

In a jolt to former Chief Minister Mayawati, the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta said public money worth Rs 1,400 crore was siphoned off in construction of memorials during her regime and indicted 199 people including her close aide and former BSP minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui.

Lokayukta N K Mehrotra, however, said there was no evidence regarding any involvement of Mayawati.