Muzaffarnagar violence: Ajit Singh slams Mulayam

Union Civil Aviation Minister and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Ajit Singh Thursday alleged that in his greed for votes, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had thrown Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring areas into communal strife.

Saying that the Akhilesh Yadav-led state government had completely failed in protecting its people, Ajit Singh said Mulayam Singh Yadav was "ruining the area" by polarising people, he told a TV channel.

"Mulayam Singh Yadav is ruining the entire western UP for his political gains by polarising the area but he does not understand that he stands exposed before the people," the RLD leader said.

He also said Yadav should realise that his greed for votes would end up ruining the entire western Uttar Pradesh, which was not in the interest of any party.

Accusing Mulayam of following very communal and polarising brand of politics, Ajit Singh feared the moves by the SP chief could end up helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reap a windfall in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"No body can ignore the history that BJP benefits whenever there is polarisation," he said.

Ajit Singh, member of parliament from Baghpat in neighbouring Muzaffarnagar was Thursday prevented from going to his constituency. His motorcade was stopped at the Loni gate on the UP-Delhi border.

UP police officials curtly told the minister that in wake of the ground situation in the area, he could not be allowed to proceed any further. Angry supporters and RLD activists accompanying Ajit Singh raised anti-government slogans and demanded that their leader be allowed to go to the violence-hit areas.