Mafia virtually running UP Govt.: Meenakshi Lekhi

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Meenakshi Lekhi, commenting on the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, alleged that the Uttar Pradesh Government is virtually being run by the mafia. She also said the state government is trying to communalise issues to cover up their 'deplorable' law and order.

"This is an issue pertaining to law and order in the state, which is deplorable and is not being maintained. There is a mafia which is virtually running the government. The people in the government are ostracizing the honest law-abiding officers, who are only acting as per the mandate of their job. When such people are being ostracized and ill treated by the government, it is a very very deplorable state of affairs," Lekhi said here today.

Durga Shakti Nagpal, 28, is the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh but was suspended yesterday, less than one year after her first posting, for opposing an illegal building of a mosque on government property.

"The Samajwadi Party is trying to communalise issues. They are also trying to cover the issue of ill-governance by the veil of burqa," Lekhi said.

The young 2009-batch IAS officer came to limelight over her crackdown on the sand mining mafia, which ran rampant along the Yamuna and Hindon rivers in western Uttar Pradesh. According to reports, Nagpal had seized nearly 300 trolleys of sand being illegally mined from the Yamuna river bed.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh Government said removing Nagpal was an "administrative decision" as her decision to demolish the mosque could trigger communal tension, especially since it came during the month of Ramzan. "Sometimes we have to take such decisions to prevent communal tension," said Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.