Even as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav continues to face flak over the gangrape and murder in Badaun, it is the political fallout of the outrage which seems to be worrying the Samajwadi Party more. For the ruling party which fared poorly in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the spate of recent incidents could not have come at a more inopportune time.
While the 2017 Assembly polls are some distance away, by-elections to 12 Assembly seats – where the SP will be pitted against a rejuvenated BJP after the Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s recently decided not to contest the bypolls – will be held soon even though the schedule is yet to be announced.
As the bypolls -- caused by the resignation of sitting MLAs who have been elected MPs -- will be held on the seats won by the BJP in the 2012 Assembly elections, the onus will be on it to retain the seats. However, it will be a litmus test for the SP to regain some of its lost ground. Recent comments by party leaders, including the SP national general secretary, Ram Gopal Yadav, on the Badaun incident, have not helped matters either. Apart from the concern expressed by the United Nations chief Ban-ki-Moon and the United States over the rape and hanging of two cousins in Budaun, the Central Government has asked the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to improve the law and order situation in his State.
An inevitable fallout of the controversy has been that the BJP, riding on its resounding success in Lok Sabha polls, has suddenly gone aggressive leaving no opportunity to target the ruling party. With 71 seats in its kitty, the BJP has emerged as a strong contender in the 2017 Assembly elections, and was the first to demand Mr. Yadav’s resignation after the SP’s rout.
The Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Kalraj Mishra, on Thursday slammed the State Government for failing to curb the incidents of crime and improve the law and order situation. Mr. Mishra, the MP from Deoria, expressed concern over the alleged rape of a minor a couple days back and the double murder of a husband and wife whose bodies were found hanging from a tree on Thursday. Both the incidents occurred in Deoria.
