The Samajwadi Party, on Wednesday, accused the Bhartiya Janata Party of trying to replicate the ‘Gujarat model’ in Uttar Pradesh by communalising the atmosphere in the state. Senior SP leader and chief of the party’s Maharashtra state unit, Abu Asim Azmi told reporters in Agra that the BJP was trying to adopt Mr Narendra Modi’s Gujarat model and polarise Hindu votes by communalising the atmosphere.
He said that this was also a part of the conspiracy to weaken the Muslim vote bank of the Samajwadi Party. “Muslims are aware of the designs of the BJP and will continue their support to the Samajwadi Party,” he added.
Mr Azmi also downplayed the absence of Mohd Azam Khan at the party’s national executive and said that Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Akhilesh Yadav were the tallest leaders of the party and the absence or presence of others did not matter.
Another senior SP MP, Naresh Agarwal admitted that there was some ‘laxity’ on the part of officers in Muzaffarnagar who did not pass on information about violence but said that the Akhilesh government effectively controlled the situation there. Mr Agarwal denied that the Muzaffarnagar riots would have any impact on the Lok Sabha polls.