 "Lawlessness tag blocks UP's investment plans")
The latest addition to a string of perceptible failures of the law and order machinery was the communal riots in Saharanpur that left three dead and many wounded. The state had also seen one of the worst communal riots in and around Muzaffarnagar in 2013.
Though, the government swiftly brought the situation in Saharanpur under control and clamped curfew in troubled areas, the damage had been done.
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While the ruling Samajwadi Party has been quick to point fingers at Right wing organisations for the violence, the opposition parties have blamed the failure of the law and order apparatus.
The riot was preceded by the alleged gang rape and murder of a young widow on the outskirts of Lucknow. Initial police investigation had suggested the victim was killed by a security guard, when she resisted rape. Forensic reports had said otherwise. The victim's family had demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.
Recovering from the drubbing in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Yadav had adopted the mantra of development for governance and even discontinued populist schemes such as free laptops and tablets and unemployment doles.
The government had upped its investment agenda and organised an investors' conclave in New Delhi last month. It had participated in the Invest North Summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry recently. However, some intermittent and unpalatable incidents and the media coverage have eclipsed the development push.
Economist and former director of Lucknow-based Giri Institute of Development Studies (GIDS) A K Singh told Business Standard: “The perception about poor law and order situation discourages fresh investment. Investors would never want to invest in a state that has a negative perception about law and order.”
He also blamed the failure of the successive state governments on the policy reform front — pertaining to lease of land, contract farming and organised retail for low investments.