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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) government of discriminating against people on the basis of religion and caste, including the manner in which land was allocated for Muslim graveyards and Hindu cremation grounds, and electricity supplied during festivals.
“If a village has a graveyard, it should also have a cremation ground. If there is electricity on Ramzan, it should also be there on Diwali…There should be no discrimination,” he said.
The statement came on the day 69 seats in central Uttar Pradesh went to polls as part of the third phase of the seven-phase Assembly elections.
The Congress and SP said they would move the Election Commission to complain how the PM was attempting to polarise the elections on religious lines, and that it violated the model code of conduct.
SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary, a Cabinet minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government, said Modi and BJP president Amit Shah were indulging in “political terrorism”. He said Modi’s effort to “give a communal turn” to the election indicated BJP’s nervousness at its poor performance in the three phases. Chaudhary also contested that the PM’s facts were wrong on allotment of plots for cremation grounds and cemeteries, and on power supply.
At a public rally in Fatehpur district, which goes to polls in the fourth phase on Thursday, the PM said that everybody in UP felt discriminated. He said the Dalits complained that OBCs, or Other Backward Classes, were favoured.
Sources in the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation also disputed his claims. “Power sector reforms have been one of the foremost achievements of the Akhilesh Yadav government, and the government data as well as feedback from the ground bears that out,” a top official, who didn’t want to be named given the model code of conduct being in force, said. The official said power was supplied during all festivals alike. Uninterrupted electricity supply had been ensured to Dargah Kichochha in Ambedkar Nagar district, Deva Sharif Dargah in Barabanki, Buddhist stupa in Shravasti, Panj Pyare Gurudwara in in Meerut, Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi and Bankey Bihari temple in Vrindavan, the official added.
“If a village has a graveyard, it should also have a cremation ground. If there is electricity on Ramzan, it should also be there on Diwali…There should be no discrimination,” he said.
The statement came on the day 69 seats in central Uttar Pradesh went to polls as part of the third phase of the seven-phase Assembly elections.
The Congress and SP said they would move the Election Commission to complain how the PM was attempting to polarise the elections on religious lines, and that it violated the model code of conduct.
SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary, a Cabinet minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government, said Modi and BJP president Amit Shah were indulging in “political terrorism”. He said Modi’s effort to “give a communal turn” to the election indicated BJP’s nervousness at its poor performance in the three phases. Chaudhary also contested that the PM’s facts were wrong on allotment of plots for cremation grounds and cemeteries, and on power supply.
At a public rally in Fatehpur district, which goes to polls in the fourth phase on Thursday, the PM said that everybody in UP felt discriminated. He said the Dalits complained that OBCs, or Other Backward Classes, were favoured.
Sources in the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation also disputed his claims. “Power sector reforms have been one of the foremost achievements of the Akhilesh Yadav government, and the government data as well as feedback from the ground bears that out,” a top official, who didn’t want to be named given the model code of conduct being in force, said. The official said power was supplied during all festivals alike. Uninterrupted electricity supply had been ensured to Dargah Kichochha in Ambedkar Nagar district, Deva Sharif Dargah in Barabanki, Buddhist stupa in Shravasti, Panj Pyare Gurudwara in in Meerut, Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi and Bankey Bihari temple in Vrindavan, the official added.
