Samajwadi Party MLAs decry ‘poor’ law & order in Uttar Pradesh, stage a sit-in

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party MLAs staged a sit-in outside the state assembly before the monsoon session kicked off on Tuesday morning, holding placards with ‘Ab nahi chahiye BJP sarkar’. Party leaders highlighted issues like rising crime graph, covid mismanagement and fuel price hike.
Later, SP national president Akhilesh Yadav launched a pointed attack over the recent incidents of crime being reported from across the state. He cited the self-immolation bid by a rape survivor and her companion from Uttar Pradesh outside the Supreme Court on Monday as a manifestation of the state of affairs prevailing in the state. He went on to cite the August 15 incident in Mahoba where a woman was set ablaze for lodging a police complaint against those who allegedly molested her. He said such incidents only explain the failure of the police to control crime against women.
The former UP chief minister went on to question the government over the broad daylight robbery in which a bullion trader was robbed at gunpoint of over Rs 1 crore in cash in Mathura while he was going to deposit the money in a bank on Monday and another robbery in Gorakhpur. He said chief minister’s Thoko Niti (encounter policy) has failed to deliver for reasons best known to the police.
Earlier, party MLAs were seen wearing oxygen masks, carrying cut-outs of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders, carrying placards with ‘Release Azam Khan’, ‘Get caste census done’ and ‘Stop crime against women and dalits’ written on them as they gathered outside the state assembly for the monsoon session. One of the MLAs and his supporters took a bullock card ride to highlight the rising fuel prices. The MLAs led by senior leader Rajendra Chuadhary and state president Naresh Uttam Patel sat outside the assembly entrance raising slogans against the government.