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With communal clashes in Muzzafarnagar in Uttar Pradesh leaving 29 dead (till reports last came in), political parties have lashed out at the Samjawadi Party led government for its laxity; the Bahujan Samaj Party BSP and the Ajit Singh led RLD have demanded President's rule in the state. The ruling Congress led UPA has opted to publicly “appeal to the UP government to control the situation” while Congress leaders admit in private that it “appears to be a fixed match between the SP and the BSP to polarize the state in the run up to 2014.”
I & B minister Manish Tewari, today when qustioned about the SP state government’s complicity in the riots, would only suffice to say that “The task before us now is to ensure that normalcy returns in the area. After things are under control we shall have time to analyse who was responsible.” He repeatedly stressed that “law and order is a state subject” and the Centre can only render assistance when requested.
Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed tweeted, “According to media in a strategic move RSS has directed BJP to concentrate on Uttar Pradesh,Bihar&South India for political gains in 2014.”
Senior Congress leaders however admit that the SP had been a silent bystander to the escalating incidents of sporadic violence and it was in the interest of both the ruling SP and the BJP to communalise the polity. “After all the BJP is bent on raking in the Muslim vote and the BJP is going all out to garner the Hindu vote and that was made very obvious when Amit Shah was sent to UP as state incharge and he revived talks of building the temple.”
Congress leaders add that its only communally surcharging the atmosphere that these two political parties hope to overcome the challenges posed by the complex caste lines in the state. “Its only then that Hindus and Muslims will vote on religious lines and caste considerations will take a backseat,” said a Congress leader.
BSP supreme Mayawati too sensed a “fixed match” and went public with her views blaming ruling SP and BJP for the violence and demanding imposition of President's rule in the state. "One can see the hands of BJP and SP behind this. Lok Sabha polls are near and both the parties want to give a communal colour to the polls...It is their political gameplan," Mayawati said.
The Left parties have accused the UP government of laxity with the CPI(M) Politburo in its statement, “The large-scale riot was sparked off by a small incident which occurred nearly ten days earlier but the laxity of the administration has allowed the communal elements to exploit the situation.”
The fact that Samjawadi Party leader and Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav chose to address the media wearing a skull cap, was not lost on anybody and Twitter was abuzz with tweets lambasting the SP.
While the Army has been called in to control the situation, the Union Home Ministry today asked the Uttar Pradesh government to send situation reports every 12 hours till normalcy returns in riot-hit areas.
