BJP, SP in photo war over murder accused in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: UP's pugilistic political arena has seen many a photo finish. Now, Prayagraj's witness murder case has rivals vowing to "finish with photos".
A picture war has broken out between Samajwadi Party (SP) and governing BJP after the arrest of a suspect, Sadakat Khan, with each both pointing fingers at the other for alleged links with the accused.
Sadakat was nabbed for his role in the conspiracy to eliminate Umesh Pal, the main witness in BSP MLA Raju Pal's 2005 murder case who was shot dead Friday in Prayagraj. The arrest of Sadakat, an LLB student who hails from Ghazipur, follows the gunning down of another accused, Arbaz, in an encounter.
The photo fight began Tuesday morning when a picture of Sadakat posing with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav went viral. Key BJP leaders shared it on social media. SP workers then tweeted a photo of Sadakat with a former BJP MLA, Udaybhan Karwariya.
Akhilesh riposted that anyone could come up and get a photo clicked with a public figure. "One can get a photo clicked with anyone. Yesterday, the CM and I took a photo together. It's the age of social media," the former CM said when asked about the kerfuffle.
The Congress alleged that both SP and the BJP were hand-in-glove with the criminals, and two sides of the same coin.
"The entire state and the country know the Samajwadi Party has been strengthening criminals. In other words, I can say it is a nursery of criminals," deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said, echoing CM Yogi Adityanath's words a few days ago. Pathak stressed that the state government has zero tolerance against crime and "no matter what reach any criminal has, he will not be spared".
SP spokesperson Ameeque Jamei later shared an image of Sadakat with Karwariya. "At present, Sadakat, who is being linked to SP, was a member of BJP," Jamei tweeted.
But the picture clash wasn't ending soon. "There are no two views on this. Even the children of the state know that those who committed this crime are associated with which party," BJP MLA Shalabhmani Tripathi said.