Gorakhpur riot engineered by Mulayam govt: BJP

Lucknow, Jan 30 (UNI) Terming the Gorakhpur communal riot a deliberate attempt of the ruling Samajwadi Party-led government as part of its vote politics, BJP today said it was another low of the Mulayam Singh Yadav regime in Uttar Pradesh.

The state government allowed to foment the situation for the sake of its dirty vote-based politics ahead of the UP assembly poll, state BJP president Keshri Nath Tripathi and senior party leader Lalji Tandon told mediapersons here.

They squarely blamed the UP dispensation for the twin deaths in the wake of Gorakhpur communal riot, which broke out during a Muharram procession on Friday.

''The act of the state government to fan communal disharmony in the month of Muharram should be condemned by all,'' they noted.

Both the BJP leaders, who were arrested today while proceeding to Gorakhpur, said they planned to go to the troubled town of eastern UP to provide healing touch to people, but were prevented from reaching there.

Mr Tripathi said the arrest of BJP MP Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur was yet another arbitrary action of the administration, which was beyond logic. ''BJP would start a phased agitation from tomorrow, if Yogi Adityanath is not released immediately.'' Taking the name of UP minister Jai Prakash Yadav, Mr Tandon said he was preventing the distrcit administration of Gorakhpur from taking action to normalise the situation.

Mr Tandon, the leader of opposition in the state assembly, said the much-publicised CD of Amar Singh had a mention of the communal riots that might be engineered before the poll. ''It has now been proved that SP is responsible for the Gorakhpur flare-up.'' UNI