Sambhal Showdown in LS: Akhilesh Slams Yogi Government, Labels It a 'Planned Conspiracy'

Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday launched a direct attack at the Uttar Pradesh (UP) administration for the violence in Sambhal over the mosque survey and called it a planned conspiracy.

Speaking in Lok Sabha, the SP supremo blamed Yogi Adityanath and UP Police for bloody violence in Sambhal and demanded that the top cops be booked and sacked for hatching a conspiracy against the community.

Former UP Chief Minister said that police must be made accountable of the killing of five persons in the murderous violence and the murder charges framed against them.

"It was only in the second survey of the mosque when people assembled outside the mosque but police barricaded the area and did not let them offer namaz that led to an escalation of the tension," he said.

"Only a few of them throw stones," he said.

He also blamed the police of humiliating the public and argued that such polls garner nothing except for creating disagreement and lack of harmony between communities.

As the SP chief accused the Yogi government of the "gross mishandling of the situation," he received cheers from the party members who raised slogans like "Sambhal ko insaaf chahiye."

Akhilesh stated that the BJP was spreading seeds of hatred by creating the 'temple beneath the mosque' narrative and declared that such surveys will destroy the social fabric of the nation.

In a sarcasm-laced yet pungent attack on Yogi Adityanath government, Akhilesh said that the violence in Sambhal occurred due to the "struggle between Delhi and Lucknow."

"This is a battle between Lucknow and Delhi. The one in Lucknow wants to tread the same path of those sitting in Delhi," he said.

Before this, SP Rajya Sabha lawmaker Ram Gopal Yadav also targeted UP government for Sambhal violence.

"The whole area around the mosque was turned into a fortress. When people suspected foul play inside the mosque premises, they raised their voice. Policemen instead of addressing their concern started firing at them," Ram Gopal Yadav said in the Upper House.