BJP slams SP over its harmony programme

Lucknow, Sept 24: The BJP on Tuesday said the harmony and unity week to be observed by the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh from tomorrow was nothing but hypocrisy.

"Words unity and harmony do not suit the Samajwadi Party whose own minister's role has come under scanner in Muzaffarnagar riots," BJP chief spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak told reporters here.

"The Sadbhawana and Ekta Saptah (harmony and unity week) to be observed by the SP from tomorrow is nothing but hypocrisy," he said. The SP and the government headed by it in the state were vitiating social harmony, the BJP leader alleged.

SP has decided to observe "Sadbhawana Ekta Saptah" to spread harmony message.

Petty incidents had snowballed into communal violence due to administrative lapses, he said. Pathak claimed even the former MLAs who quit the SP recently said the party was responsible for Muzaffarnagar violence.

Facing flak from opposition parties over the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, the Samajwadi Party has decided to observe "Sadbhawana Ekta Saptah" from tomorrow to spread the message of unity and harmony.

Directives had been issued to organise 'Sadbhawana Ekta Sabhas' at all district headquarters on the occasion of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said.

PTI