Defending the Uttar Pradesh government’s handling of the Mathura clashes, Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh on Sunday “complimented” it for tackling the “ticklish” issue and blamed the Centre for not sharing inputs on the presence of extremist elements at Jawahar Bagh.
“I compliment the State government for handling the ticklish (Mathura) issue. Home Minister Rajnath Singh cannot shed his responsibilities. Can he tell whether central intelligence agency had given any input to state regarding presence of Naxalites of Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and Odisha in Mathura,” Singh told reporters.
“We were not informed about presence of extremist elements there”, Mr. Amar said.
Responding to BJP Chief Amit Shah’s allegations that senior party leader and Cabinet Minister Shivpal Yadav had provided patronage to the cult, Mr. Singh said: “A big leader from Gujarat has demanded resignation of the Mr. Yadav over the Mathura incident. I want to know if he asked for the same from the CM of Madhya Pradesh, where Vyapam scam took place, or from Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, after Naxalites killed Vidya Charan Shukla or the Haryana CM, after rapes took place during the quota stir.”
Replying to a question, Mr. Singh said Shivpal had known Jai Gurudev, who was the spiritual head of the sect occupying the Jawahar Bagh, but added that it was a matter of personal faith.
“Even I used to visit his ashram and will again go,” he said, adding that the one that occupied Jawahar Bagh was a “break-away faction”.
The State government had followed court orders in Mathura and sent a small force of police as women and children were there, he said. - PTI
