LUCKNOW: Rubbishing Opposition's allegations of "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today sought to downplay the issue, claiming "92 per cent" of crime takes place over 'jar, joru, zameen' (money, woman and property)
He also hit out at the media, alleging they "do not highlight" the good works done by the police while "exploit" the bad ones "to the hilt".
"Police is also doing good work which is not highlighted...an incident here or there does not mean that the entire police or law and order of the state is bad", Yadav said in reply to a debate on law and order in the Legislative Assembly.
Referring to the various incidents of crime highlighed by opposition members who spoke before him, Yadav targetted the media, asking them "not to go by the breaking news" on electronic media, as "92 per cent of crime takes place over 'jar, joru, zameen' (money, woman and property).
"You also know the reality of some such cases....in Mathura and Faizabad idols were stolen from the temples and dharnas were staged for about three months but investigations found that the protestors were the ones who were behind the incident, and we got defamed for it", Yadav said.
Asserting that he was neither "weak nor innocent", as charged by the Opposition, which also alleged that officials were not listening to him, Yadav said, criminal incidents specially against women and girls perturb him equally.
"We will definitely work on your suggestions so that we can become 'mazboot' (strong).
"I also want that the image of government to improve...I accept that there is still a lot that needs to be done but we are moving in that direction", he said, citing the efforts of the government towards modernising the police force, provide them better training besides brining down their response time and boosting their morale.
"If an ambulance can reach within five minutes of call why can't the police....the actual politics starts only when the police reaches the scene of crime late", he said.
The BSP members however were not happy with the chief minister's reply and staged a walkout.
Earlier initiating the debate, Leader of Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya alleged that protectors of law have become its "violators" and cited various cases taking place in the state in the recent past.
"When the police is involved in crime how can one expect justice...had there been fear of law and government had control no body would have dared to break law", Maurya claimed.
"It is because of this that police is being attacked in the state", he said.
Alleging that the chief minister's orders are being "flouted by the administrative machinery", Maurya cited the example of a district level official, for whom Yadav had to "issue 20 orders".
Leader of BJP Suresh Khanna said that "no stern action" has been taken by the government which could have sent a strong message and served as a deterrent.
There were some noisy scenes when Khanna quoted the DGP of UP Police having pulled up officials for the wrong practices in video conferencing with officials, and said some of the incidents could have been "averted" had the police acted in time.
Leader of Congress, Pradip Mathur regretted that the "bad law and order" has shadowed even the good works of the chief minister.
"The power centres around the chief minister are calling the shots...thanas are being sold and the officials who thus take these posts do not listen to anyone", Mathur alleged.
Senior minister whose name had figured in the murder of journalist Joginder Singh in Shahjahanpur, Ram Murti Verma took the opportunity to clear his name, claiming that the incident was that of "suicide".
Others who took part in the debate included Veer Pal Rathi RLD), Rajni Tewari (BSP), Dharampal Singh (BJP), Shyam Sunder Sharma (TMC), Dr. Ayub (Peace Party) Ambika Chaudhary, Ram Govind Chaudhary, Manoj Pandey and Pawan Pandey (all SP).