Mulayam playing with sentiments of Muzaffarnagar riot victims: BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party vice president Muktar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday criticised the Samajwadi Party and its leader Mulayam Singh Yadav for playing with the sentiments of the Muzaffarnagar riot victims.

Reacting to Mulayam Singh's controversial claim that there were no riot victims in camps in Muzaffarnagar, Naqvi said: "The SP (Samajwadi Party) government says the affected are not riot victims, but are of a political party. Then you (SP) should identify them. This is a tamasha (drama) of playing with the sentiments of the dead and accusing BJP of doing so."

"SP, in the name of secularism, is playing politics. Instead of applying balm to the wounds of the affected, they are hurting them by pricking needles on their wounds. This shows their mentality," he said.

Naqvi also criticised Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's surprise visit to the Muzaffarnagar relief camps, claiming that the latter and others of his party were indulging in "long holiday drives".

"The Congress party and its leaders, when they have a holiday, they feel like going on a long drive. So on this holiday long drive, they reached Muzaffarnagar this time. A few months ago, the whole family had visited the place for doing secular tourism," he added.

Mulayam claimed Monday that no riot victim was left in the relief camps in Muzaffarnagar and that only supporters of Congress and BJP were staying there as part of a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the Samajwadi Party Government in Uttar Pradesh.