LUCKNOW: Facing flak following the Bulandshahr gangrape incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said he was ready for a CBI probe and accused the opposition of "tutoring the victims", a remark dubbed by BJP as "insensitive" and insulting to women.
"The incident is shameful and unfortunate... We have issued strict directives and also took action against the officials... A team has been put in place and police and administration have been asked to take stern action and ensure that no one guilty is spared," Yadav said.
"If the family of the victims want, we are ready for a CBI probe," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Raj Bhawan here.
Hitting back at the chief minister, BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma accused Yadav of rubbing salt into the wounds of Bulandshahr gangrape victims.
Instead of sacking his minister Azam Khan, Yadav chose to speak the language of Khan, who had also seen a "political conspiracy" in the crime, Sharma said in a statement in New Delhi and demanded a CBI probe into the incident, alleging that police was working to cover it up.
Sharma alleged over 3,000 rapes and 12,000 murders had occurred under the SP rule and wondered if they were also driven by politics.
Answering questions from mediapersons, the chief minister said, "We will also request the court to ensure that speedy justice is delivered...through the fast track courts. Action will be taken against those responsible."
"But the question is what are BJP and other (opposition) parties tutoring the victims in close rooms...is this not politics...leaders of the stature of ministers are sitting inside rooms and telling them...what conspiracy is being played...will we not say that it is political conspiracy," he said.
In a related development, the Allahabad High Court today directed the petitioner in the Bulandshahr gangrape case to file details by tomorrow on the alleged irregularities in the police probe in the matter.
The order was passed by a Lucknow bench comprising justices Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Vijay Laxmi on a PIL seeking directions for a CBI probe and for making proper security arrangements on highways in UP.
Yadav said opposition parties are trying to politicise the matter in view of Assembly polls early next year.
Taking on the opposition which had also demanded his resignation, he said they have no development work to their credit and are spreading a canard.
"They have nothing worth the name to claim on the development front...they made a hype out of Bareilly incident (where police claimed that a school teacher's gangrape was found to be fake). If they have any suggestion to make, it is welcome but I want to tell them not to indulge in politics (on such issues)," he said.
Yadav alleged that hype was also built around the Badaun rape case of two sisters to defame his government in the past.
A political slugfest is on in the state over the gangrape of a minor girl and her mother on the national highway in Bulandshahr district last week, with the state government coming in for severe bashing and leaders of various parties making a beeline to meet the victims.
A BJP delegation led by state unit president Keshav Prasad Maurya has met the victims in Ghaziabad, while another team led by the Congress chief ministerial candidate met them today.