Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was a complete failure after it disallowed senior SP members from visiting violence-hit Sambhal district.
Senior Samajwadi Party leader and former Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, Mata Prasad Pandey, was to visit Sambhal on Saturday with other party representatives. However, a blanket of security was thrown around Pandey’s home and later around the office of the Samajwadi Party.
#WATCH | Lucknow, UP: Uttar Pradesh Assembly LoP Mata Prasad Pandey says, "...We will talk to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and decide the next date for going to Sambhal. Samajwadi Party has decided that Rs 5 lakh each will be given to the people killed in the Sambhal incident. We… pic.twitter.com/QMJMtFFJdK
— ANI (@ANI) November 30, 2024
Pandey said that if he had wanted to go to Sambhal, he could have done that without informing the government. However, he had, as protocol demanded, sent an application to the administration about his visit and the schedule.
Last night however, Pandey received calls from the state’s Principal Secretary (Home) and the district magistrate of Sambhal asking him not to visit. On Friday evening, the administration also extended the prohibitory orders in place in the district since violence broke out on November 24.
The prohibitory orders in place include the direction that ‘no outsider’ be allowed in the district. The extended deadline is December 10 with the caveat that if not taken back on the said date, the orders shall be in force till December 31.
Pandey said that the proper way to inform him was in writing and not just over telephone calls. “We will discuss with other party members what steps we must take next,” he said.
Yadav, meanwhile, said that the prohibitory orders that the government has now imposed should have been enforced before the violence took place.
There are 25 points specified in the orders issued on Friday night. These include warnings against disruption electricity and water supply in the district, use of social media to spread any kind of rumours or vitiate the atmosphere; the consumption of cigarettes, pan, tobacco in public spaces and even the flying of kites with such strings that might pose a danger to humans.
