Kairana exodus: BJP in war of words with SP, to send team to probe issue

Terming it as a “sensitive” issue, the BJP said it was not good for a democracy and that a party team would be sent to probe the matter, while Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav accused the saffron party leaders of resorting to lies.

As political temperatures rose over the alleged exodus of Hindus from Kairana village in Shamli district in western Uttar Pradesh ahead of elections due in the state next year, the BJP promised “proper action” after the completion of the probe. Shamli district had witnessed communal riots in 2013.

A day after BJP chief Amit Shah expressed serious concern over the “migration”, senior BJP leader and Union minister Nitin Gadkari said his party had taken up the issue with all seriousness. “The party president has set up a committee, which will go there and study the situation. Such a migration is not good for democracy. The party is sensitive about it and proper steps will be taken after the report comes,” Gadkari said on the second day of the BJP’s  National Executive meeting in Allahabad. The seven-member committee comprises four MPs and three leaders from UP.

Gadkari, a former BJP president, parried a question about the SP government’s assertion that many Hindus had migrated from Kairana long ago and some of them were now dead, saying that the BJP chief had already reacted to this matter. “The party is sensitive on this issue and will take proper action,” he said.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav has accused the BJP leaders of being “dishonest” and “lying” on the issue and said that he would like to see “better work” from the party. “The BJP is alleging that the Samajwadi Party government forced the people flee from Kairana... The BJP can be dishonest to this extent,” he said in Mathura, after meeting the families of two police officers killed in the on June 2 violence.

Yadav claimed that most of the people left the village 10 to 15 years ago, while others left in search of jobs seven or eight years ago.

“A house-to-house search exposes the lie of BJP,” he said, adding that in fact the saffron party did not have any issue like development and would only tout “Digital India”, whereas the state has made tremendous progress under the SP-led government such as distribution of laptops, construction of roads and bridges and providing power for long hours.

Taking a dig at the BJP, which is seeking to wrest power from the SP in the state, Yadav said he would like to see “better” work from the party.

“I want them to show some work. They should come and say that they distributed laptops to people and not only talk about digital India,” he added. Shah, in his address to the National Executive yesterday, had said, “The migration happening in Kairana due to violence is a matter of serious concern. There is an atmosphere of violence. The lack of development and the lack of governance in the largest state of India, that is Uttar Pradesh, is becoming a matter of serious concern.”