All guns trained on Akhilesh Yadav

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav faced a barrage of attacks on Friday from opposition parties over the violence in Mathura. His chief rival, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, demanded his resignation, while the BJP labelled him a kalank (bad omen) on the State.

Assembly elections are due in UP next year and the incident violence is a major setback for the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).

The Centre has demanded a report from the Chief Minister, and Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to him, too. The BJP accused the State government of complicity with the perpetrators of violence, a local religious cult which had captured land in Mathura. The Congress too blamed the State government for being chiefly responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in the State.

Mayawati said the SP government should resign taking responsibility for the “unfortunate and painful” incident and demanded a time-bound judicial inquiry.

BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma, who hails from Mathura, rushed to the city to meet with local people and demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident. He alleged that a “leader, whose stature is the same as the CM”, is in cahoots with those who unleashed the violence and killed two police officers.

“The main conspirator in the case has the full protection of the Samajwadi Party. Policemen were sent to the spot with their hands tied and this is why two of them died,” he said.

Agency reports said the Opposition has alleged that Public Works Department Minister Shivpal Singh, the younger brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav, was patronising the Jai Gurudev organisation, an affiliate of which was behind the violence.

The SP tried to downplay the violence and alleged that the protesters who fired on the police were outsiders.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the SP government in the State should take steps to address the serious situation. This, however, is not the time “to score political brownie points”, and efforts should be made to swiftly bring the guilty to book and provide succour to the affected, the asserted.

“The BJP should remember that instead of playing politics over the dead, the important thing is to ensure peace is restored, that people who have occupied government land are punished, murderers are brought to book and the Akhilesh government wakes up from its slumber and takes decisive action,” he said.

Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav said there should be no politics over the incident. “Politics should not be done over the dead,” he said, even as Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal said it is easy to blame any government.