‘Political mileage’: Akhilesh blames BJP for Bahraich violence

Mainpuri: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday accused the BJP of deliberately inciting last week’s communal violence in Bahraich district, Uttar Pradesh.

The violence, which resulted in one death and left several injured, was labelled by Akhilesh as a strategic move by the BJP to gain political mileage in the upcoming Assembly bypolls.

“BJP intentionally engineered the violence to divert public attention from the state government’s failures. With the bypolls approaching, they have no answers to the pressing problems faced by the people,” Akhilesh said.

His comments came after his nephew, Tej Pratap Yadav, filed his nomination for the Karhal assembly seat, where a bypoll is set for November 13.

Akhilesh further accused the state government of deliberately deploying insufficient security during the Durga idol immersion procession, which he claims led to the unrest in Bahraich.

“It is evident that the BJP wanted to engineer riots to influence the election environment,” he remarked, adding that the ruling party sees itself above constitutional norms. “BJP believes it can manipulate constitutional bodies as it pleases,” Akhilesh asserted.

Meanwhile, Tej Pratap, the SP candidate for Karhal, filed his nomination amid a show of strength from the party. Accompanied by Akhilesh, Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav, and other senior leaders, Tej Pratap submitted his nomination papers at the district collectorate, reinforcing the party’s unity ahead of the by-elections.