Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath today came down heavily on the Samajwadi party for patronising criminals and mafia in the state during its rule. During the course of his speech, leader of the opposition Akhilesh Yadav intervened several times, objecting to various comments made by the CM. But Yogi Adityanath shut him down every time with strong replies.
In one such moment, the CM said that Akhilesh Yadav should be ashamed that he had failed to respect his father late Mulayam Singh Yadav. This was following a heated debate between the two over the murder of Umesh Pal in Prayagraj yesterday. Umesh Pal was a prime witness in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005, and former SP MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim, also SP leader, are the prime accused in the case. Atiq Ahmed is a mafia don turned politician, and Yogi Adityanath cited his example to show how Samajwadi Party patronised and glorified criminals and organised mafia gangs.
‘Tese criminals and these mafias, after all, who harboured them? Is it not true that the mafia against whom the FIR was filed by the victim’s family was made MP by Samajwadi Party?’ the CM said. Yogi Adityanath also said ‘Mafia ko mitti mei mila denge’, reiterating his govt’s efforts to crush the organised mafia in the state.
Akhilesh Yadav objected to comments by the CM, saying the CM can’t say ‘mafia ko mitti mei mila denge’. He said this is the wrong language, and only the law can take action against the mafia, not the government. The speaker countered him by saying that there is nothing wrong in promising against the mafia, but the SP chief didn’t relent, saying it is wrong to say ‘mafia ko mitti mei mila denge’.
Yogi Adityanath taunted SP further on this, pointing out how the party is opposing taking action against criminals. He said that this is not new for SP, as they had earlier said ‘ladke hai galti kar dete hai’. He was referring to the infamous ‘boys make mistakes’ comment by Mulayam Singh Yadav over rape. In 2014, the former CM had said that rapists should not be sentenced death penalty because they are boys and boys make mistakes, saying the rape cases are just mistakes by boys.
Many such comments were made at that time, the CM said. He said that he is astonished that now the same people are talking about security and democracy. Akhilesh Yadav didn’t like that his father’s infamous quote was cited by the CM, and he said to Yogi ‘sharam ane chahiye’ (you should be ashamed).
However, Yogi Adityanath quickly retorted by saying, “sharam toh tumhe karni chahiye, jo apne baap ki samman nahi kar paye tum (you should be ashamed, you couldn’t respect even your father).”
‘At least you should have shame on this. Is this how you should behave? I have not named anyone but the remarks were made and there should be discussions on those remarks,’ the CM said. He asked why there should not be discussions on the matter of SP patronising criminals.
Yogi was referring to the fallout between Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav. In 2016, Mulayam Singh Yadav had expelled Akhilesh Yadav from the party for six years following differences over several issues. However, the decision was later revoked on 21 December 2016 after a majority of party leaders and legislators stood behind Akhilesh. Following this, Mulayam Singh Yadav was gradually side-lined in the party, and Akhilesh Yadav had brought the party under his full control.
