LUCKNOW: With the Budget session into its sixth day on Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly witnessed a rare face-off between CM Yogi Adityanath and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav over Friday’s shooting in Prayagraj in which Umesh Pal, the prime witness in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal was killed along with his gunner.
During the debate, the UP CM launched a broadside on the Samajwadi Party accusing it of cultivating and patronizing mafia and criminals and taking the vow to eliminate all criminals from UP. “Iss House mein keh raha hoon… iss mafia ko mitti me mila denge (I tell this House that we will destroy the mafia),” the CM said in reference to Atiq Ahmed who has been named in the Prayagraj incident.
As soon as the House assembled on Saturday, the Opposition, including Akhilesh, attacked the BJP-led government over the sensational shootout in Prayagraj on Friday evening, calling it a complete failure of law and order in the state. The CM started by expressing his grief and assured the House that no mafia would be allowed to flourish. Calling the Prayagraj incident unfortunate, Yogi said the government had taken cognizance of it and that action had already begun.
In the Prayagraj incident, gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, his wife Shaista Parveen, his brother Ashraf and both the sons along with other close relatives have been booked on the basis of a complaint by deceased Umesh Pal’s family. Shaista had recently taken BSP membership.
With repeated interruptions by the Opposition during his speech, a seemingly agitated UP CM rebuffed the Samajwadi Party by accusing it of protecting mafia Atiq Ahmed. “Now they are pointing fingers at the state government. The Prayagraj incident is very disturbing, but the guilty will not be spared and action will soon be there for everyone to see,” said Yogi in the Assembly.
Leader of Opposition Akhilesh Yadav reacted to CM Yogi’s remark asking which party Atiq Ahmad belonged to. “Since you have a friendship with BSP, you are not taking its name,” CM Yogi asked if those named in the Friday incident were not protected by the SP.
“The SP had made Atiq Ahmed an MP. It is the BJP government that has broken his back. He became an MLA from Allahabad West in 1996 and an MP in 2004 and 2009 with the support of SP,” said Yogi.
Atiq’s sons among 17 detained in Prayagraj case
Sources said police detained 17 people, including two sons of Atiq Ahmad, for interrogation. Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said as many as 10 police teams were set up to carry out raids at different spots and possible hideouts to nab the assailants.