Mulayam's kar sevak remark an attempt to polarise communities for political gain: BJP

Describiing Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's remark on kar sevaks as a "political stunt", the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said the statement must be viewed as a "political exercise" to polarise communities.

On Saturday, Mulayam justified his decision to order the Uttar Pradesh Police to open fire on 16 kar sevaks in Ayodhya on October 30, 1990, which claimed the lives of 16.

BJP leader Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the former chief minister is in damage control mode to save the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in Uttar Pradesh.

"The Samajwadi Party chief's remark is a political stunt, exercised by an unfaithful leader to polarise communities. Everyone remembers when he expressed regret over the killings, and today, he is making these type of statements for political gain," he said.

He said that Mulayam Yadav is trying to divert the attention of the people of Uttar Pradesh from the real problems of the state like security and the government's failure to execute developmental projects in the state.

"It is an effort to divert the attention of the public, but people still have questions as to why their girls are not safe in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party, which has been proclaiming its achievements in carrying out development projects in the state, should first see the status of those projects. If they are not spending enough money, then how is the state going to get developed," he said.

Mulayam had said, "We had to fire. When I tried to justify my action, the Bharatiya Janata Party members called me the murderer of humanity. If we had not fired at them, imagine what the Muslim population would have thought. Then how would I justify my position as chief minster."

The firing had earned him the nickname of 'Mullah Mulayam'.

In January this year, Yadav said the decision to order firing on 'kar sevaks' in Ayodhya was "painful" and added that he had no other option.