State Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu pays tribute to slain cops in Lucknow. (Express photo)
The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh came under fire over the killing of eight policemen in an encounter in Kanpur as the Opposition said that the incident highlighted the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
While the Congress said that there is a “goonda raj” and “jungle raj” in the state, the Samajwadi Party said the incident has exposed the “connivance between criminals and those in power”. The BSP, on the other hand, called for the need to improve the law and order situation.
As the news broke of the killing of the eight policemen, Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi offered condolences to the families of the dead policemen and said, “Another proof of goonda raj (rule of criminals) in UP. When the police are not safe, how can people be? My condolences are with family of martyrs and I wish speedy recovery of those injured.”‘
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hit out the government and asked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take strict action. “The law and order has deteriorated to such an extent in Uttar Pradesh that criminals have become fearless. From common people to police, no one is safe… The responsibility of the law and order is with the chief minister. He should initiate strict action and there should be no laxity in it,” she added.
She doubled down with media reports of murders in Ghaziabad and Prayagraj, saying: “Uttar Pradesh mein apradhiyon ka is tarah haavi ho jana asamanya hai. Is jungleraj ko dekhte hue jawab-dehi toh fix karni hogi (The dominance of criminals in this manner in UP is very unusual. Taking into account this jungle raj, accountability needs to be fixed).”
The Samajwadi Party, which called Uttar Pradesh “Hatya Pradesh”, alleged connivance between the criminals and the ruling BJP in the state. SP chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said, “The policemen have paid the price of connivance between those in power and criminals… Criminals should be caught alive so that the present government is exposed.”
“Afraid of getting exposed, the BJP government is doing naatak (drama) of catching small-time criminals, while letting off the bigger ones. This will affect the morale of our forces and their anger will increase,” Akhilesh said and asked the government to immediately announce Rs 1 crore as compensation to each of the families of the dead policemen.
BSP chief Mayawati called the Kanpur incident “sad, shameful and unfortunate”, and added that the UP government “needs to be more alert on law and order issue”. “Those involved should not be spared by the government at any cost even if a special campaign is needed for that. The family of those who died should be given financial help and jobs should be given to one member of their family. This is the demand of the BSP,” the former chief minister tweeted.