Muzaffarnagar Riot: Demand for Akhilesh Yadav's scalp

Lucknow, Sept 11: Continuing his attack on Uttar Pradesh government over its handling of the Muzaffarnagar communal violence, Union minister Jitin Prasada today asked Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to own up the responsibility and quit.

"It is not an ordinary incident. Despite warnings and and continuing tension, why was it not prevented. Someone has to take the responsibility," he told reporters here. Asked whether Akhilesh should own up responsibility and resign, the minister of state for HRD said "absolutely".

"He should resign," Prasada said describing the Muzaffarnagar incident as most unfortunate. It was for the first time in 21 years that Army had to be called out in the state after 1990, he said.

"Why the trouble was not checked in time by the state government which had earlier stopped VHP's Ayodhya yatra?" Prasada asked.

On senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan keeping away from Cabinet and party meetings, the minister refused to comment. When asked who could benefit from the Muzaffarnagar incident, Prasada said it was obvious that the BJP and the SP would gain from it. Asked to elaborate, he said "in politics the benefit is not seen directly."

On September 10, Prasada suggested that Akhilesh should quit in the wake of Muzaffarnagar clashes. He had also slammed the Samajwadi Party alleging it was hand-in-glove with the BJP and was trying to criminalise things in the run up to elections.

PTI