We did not scuttle any development work: Akhilesh

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said that contrary to allegations levelled by BJP leaders, his government never scuttled development work or any central scheme.

He alleged that it was the Centre that was not cooperating with the Samajwadi Party government.

"We did not scuttle any development work. We have always cooperated with the central government and I can cite many examples. We instantly gave land for the AIIMS and the construction has already started," Akhilesh said at a programme organised by India Today here.

"But they did not give us funds or clearance for lands we asked for," he added.

On the Jawahar Bagh incident in Mathura where two senior police officers were killed in firing by encroachers, Akhilesh said the local police were not "well prepared" to tackle the situation.

"The loss of lives at Jawahar Bagh is sad. But the police should have gone into the operation well prepared, especially when they knew the encroachers were quite powerful."

On being questioned why the administration did not evict the encroachers for two years, Akhilesh said they "were concerned about the lives of many women and children who were inside".

"We have initiated a judicial inquiry into the Mathura incident and hope that the truth would come out soon," he said on allegations that his uncle and state Cabinet Minister Shivpal Yadav could be backing the encroachers.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of whipping up communal passions in the state by "spreading canards" such as the alleged Kairana exodus of Hindus.

"The people spreading rumours about Kairana are the same BJP leaders who poisoned the atmosphere in Shamli. They are doing this because they don't have any real issues to raise," Akhilesh said.

--IANS

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