SP, QED shows UP government not working to improve law and order: BJP

The president of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Keshav Prasad Maurya on Saturday said that the merger between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) has sent out a clear message that a deaf ear and a blind eye will turned towards acts of corruption and hooliganism.

"This merger proves that the Akhilesh Yadav government is taking everyone in their party, whether they are corrupt or criminals, and they are giving this message that they will not let the state be free from corruption, hooliganism and would neither maintain law and order," Maurya told ANI.

Maurya said both parties have always been together whenever elections are held.

The Samajwadi Party on Thursday announced a merger with the QED, which is led by criminally tainted politician Mukhtar Ansari.

After Shivpal had announced the merger on June 21, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had put his foot down against the move, forcing the party's parliamentary board to have a relook.

Subsequently Akhilesh went ahead and sacked senior minister Balram Yadav who was believed to have played a key role in the merger but reinstated him later. The merger has been one of the key issues during the last month's intra-family feud, with Akhilesh openly showing his reservations about the pact.