Akhilesh patronising the corrupt, criminals: BJP

BJP UP President Keshav Prasad Maurya today accused Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of "patronising the corrupt and the criminals".

Referring to a report released by Governor Ram Naik, Maurya said it smacked of the Samajwadi Party government's "complicity" with criminals and the corrupt.

He said the Governor's report drew attention to the fact that only 2 out of 53 petitions sent by Lokayukt were responded to.

"This report has exposed the corrupt and criminal face of CM Akhilesh Yadav," the BJP leader said, claiming no action or prosecution was allowed against 22 ministers of earlier BSP regime against whom Lokayukt had completed probe.

Akhilesh's own ministers like Gayatri Prajapati were shielded despite humongous corruption in the mining sector, Maurya alleged.

"The UP govt has ignored cases like Jawahar Bagh land grabbing and illegal mining resulting to loss to state exchequer and the CM is shying away from bringing out a white paper on these issues, despite strong demand by BJP," he added.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has said on Sunday that the SP government's "inaction" on Lokayukta complaints against the previous Mayawati regime gave an impression that it was going "soft on corruption".

In his six-monthly report that came at a time when the state was in the midst of electioneering, the Governor said the UP Lokayukta had sent 53 reports to the ruling Samajwadi Party, but it cared to give clarifications on only two of the complaints.

He said the Lokayukta had sought reports on a number of ministers under the previous government, but there was no response from the present dispensation.

The Governor said he had also directed the state to issue a white paper on encroachment of government land in the wake of the Jawaharbagh violence in Mathura early this year, but nothing happened.

Twenty-nine people, including then SP (City) Mukul Dwivedi and Station House Officer (Farah) Santosh Yadav, were killed during clashes on June 2, 2016 between police and the supporters of cult leader Ram Vriksh Yadav who had encroached upon the 270-acre Jawahar Bagh, a government land.