Pulwama attack 'conspiracy' to fetch votes: SP leader

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav Thursday alleged that the Pulwama terror attack was a "conspiracy" to garner votes, drawing sharp reaction from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Yadav, a general secretary in the Samajwadi Party (SP), also said once there is a change at the Centre, investigations will be conducted into the incident and claimed that prominent people will come under the scanner of the probe.

Hitting out at the SP leader, Adityanath said this an example of "atrocious politics" and Yadav should apologise for his comment.

Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district after a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into their bus, which was part of a convoy going to Srinagar from Jammu, on February 14.

"For the first time, it happened that there was no checking between Jammu and Srinagar. It was for the first time that the CRPF jawans were sent in simple buses. The point where the armoured vehicles were available, no one stopped there and they proceeded, and lives were lost," Ramgopal Yadav said.

"This was a conspiracy...But, when there will be a change of government, investigations will be done and prominent people will come under the scanner, who had pushed our youth to death to garner votes," he alleged.

The SP leader was speaking at a programme held here at Saifai -- the ancestral village of Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"A number of paramilitary jawans were unnecessarily killed to increase votes. I do not want to speak these things now.

"But, paramilitary personnel, including some officers, have complained to me that they had been demanding that they should be sent through air route, as when they go from Jammu, they take the air route, and when they enter the Valley, they go in armoured vehicles," Ramgopal Yadav said.

The chief minister said these kind of statements damage the confidence of security personnel.

"The statement is the height of appeasement, and an example of atrocious politics. These type of deplorable statements is a part of the conspiracy to damage the confidence of the brave jawans of the country," Adityanath said.