The BJP today charged the Samajwadi Party government with having ushered in "jungle raj" in Uttar Pradesh where people were being murdered or kidnapped, women raped and horrendous crimes taking place at an alarming rate.
"The families of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad have entered a matrimonial alliance. It seems the SP supremo has received as a gift the traits of the RJD chief whose rule in neighbouring Bihar had become notorious as a rule of the jungle.
"While Prasad, who is now sharing power with Nitish Kumar, is busy bringing jungle raj back in that state, Yadav has succeeded in bringing UP to the top as far as incidents of crimes are concerned," BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh told reporters here.
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He said a report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has identified top 10 most dangerous states in the country based on the incidents of communal riots and heinous offences like murders, rapes and kidnappings.
"We wonder whether the SP supremo and his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav would be proud of the fact that UP tops the list. It is followed closely by Bihar while West Bengal, ruled by Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee is at number three," said Singh, who is also the party's in-charge for West Bengal.
He said SP cannot even complain that the NCRB figures were compiled by the Union Home Ministry and that the BJP, being in power at the Centre, has got it manipulated.
"Let us take into account the data that the state's own crime records bureau has shared with the Centre. As per this data, the state witnesses seven murders every day while a woman is raped here every half-an-hour. Needless to say, the situation is nothing short of alarming and dismal," Singh said.
The BJP leader expressed confidence about the party faring well in the legislative council polls saying "we will put up a fine performance in the elections which will also reflect the public mood in the state where Assembly elections are less than a year away".
"Moreover, while Mayawati and her party never tire of
invoking the name of Ambedkar, it needs a Narendra Modi to envisage that the Dalit icon's 125th birth anniversary ought to be celebrated and his house in London should be acquired and converted into a museum," he said.
Singh also pooh-poohed Mayawati's allegation that the BJP was specifically targeting her party colleague Nasimuddin Siddiqui in a bid to polarise the electorate in UP along communal lines, saying "if there is polarisation, it is by Mayawati with support from SP and Congress. These parties may be sworn enemies but they are united in their fright of the BJP's ascendancy in the state".
"It may be added here that the Prime Minister himself has clarified our stance with respect to protection of cows, which has been causing unnecessary controversy.
"We have led by example in states like Punjab and Haryana where we are in power, making a clear distinction between genuine gau-sevaks and lumpen elements engaging in anti-social activities under the garb of cow vigilantism.
"We would request leaders like UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to take a leaf out of our book and do something effective rather than blaming the BJP for acts of hooliganism which the party has never endorsed," Singh said.
Singh also claimed that the party was likely to do well in the neighboring state of Uttarakhand, where assembly polls are likely to be held alongside UP and Punjab.
"In Punjab, we are the junior partner in the ruling coalition. Admittedly, it is a tough battle but still we foresee a division of votes between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party going in our favour," he said.
