SP govt responsible for communal riots in UP: Kalraj Mishra

Kanpur, Sep 8: Hitting back at ruling Samajwadi Party, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Kalraj Mishra on Monday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of being responsible for increasing cases of communal riots in the state.

"The SP government is responsible for the recent communal riots in the state as it has released from jails a number of criminals belonging to a particular community," Mishra told reporters.

These people, he said, were fomenting communal hatred triggering riots in the state. Mishra's remarks came after Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav alleged that "BJP may conspire large scale communal violence in Uttar Pradesh for political gains," and said "there was an intelligence input in this regard".

SP national General Secretary Rewati Raman Singh had yesterday alleged that so long as top BJP leaders have political interest in Uttar Pradesh, communal tension will prevail.

Mishra claimed that BJP would emerge victorious in the bye-elections for 11 Assembly seats and a Lok Sabha constituency "as people are fed up with the SP government".

PTI