LUCKNOW: Main rivals of Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party today came down heavily on Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's government over the Mathura violence with BJP chief Amit Shah demanding resignation of state cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati seeking a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the incidents.
Accusing Shivpal Yadav, Akhilesh's uncle, of being responsible for the violence, Shah said "if even a little bit of self-respect is left in netaji (SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav), he should get the resignation of minister Shivpal Yadav immediately.
Addressing a meeting of booth incharge of Kanpur and Bundelkhand regions, he said "Akhilesh Yadav ji, if you have to maintain relation of chacha-bhatija, you should tell the public that you have no relation with them." His attack came against the backdrop of BJP state chief Keshav Prasad Maurya alleging that the attackers were "goons of PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav". Shivpal, however, denied the allegation and said police would not spare alleged key accused Ram Vriksh Yadav. Shah said there should be no politics over the incident. "Politics should not be done over the dead."
Virtually sounding the bugle for the 2017 state Assembly elections, Shah charged law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh has been reduced to mockery. "An SP is killed in broad day light. An SHO is killed. More than 200 people open fire on the police with rifles and explosives but the minister sitting in the secretariat in Lucknow gives patronage to them and does not allow the police to act," Shah charged.
The BJP President also alleged that the Mathura incident has defamed Uttar Pradesh across the country. At least 24 people, including two police officers, died in Thursday's clashes between police and encroachers at Jawahar Bagh in Mathura.
BJP has already demanded a CBI inquiry into the Mathura violence.
Shah accused the state government of not implementing the Centre's programmes for welfare of the people.
He asked the party cadres to propagate about the central government's welfare schemes among the people and appealed to the people to help BJP secured two-thirds majority in next year's Assembly elections in UP.
Mayawati, addressing the media here, attacked Akhilesh Yadav accusing him of not taking the Mathura violence seriously and demanded a CBI or Supreme Court-monitored probe into the incidents.
"Rather than touring Bundelkhand, he should have been visiting Mathura today," she said. Akhilesh Yadav, for his part, announced increase in the compensation amount to the next of kin of the two police officers, who were killed in violence in Mathura, from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, "extraordinary" pension to their families and job to one member from each family. He said the state government would extend all help in rehabilitation of the two policemen's dependents.