The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party on Thursday honoured at two separate rallies three persons, including two legislators, who were allegedly involved in inciting communal riots in Uttar Pradesh.
Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana, BJP MLAs from Muzzafarnagar who were accused of fuelling violence during the recent clashes there and charged under the National Security Act, were felicitated at a rally in Agra, hours before the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, arrived there to address a public meeting.
The felicitation ceremony for the two MLAs, who are now out on bail, was presided over by senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra before Mr. Modi’s arrival on the Kothi Meena Bazar ground.
In Bareilly, SP supremo Mulayam Singh and his Chief Minister-son Akhilesh Yadav addressed a party rally, sharing the stage with a controversial cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan. The cleric was accused of inciting riots in Bareilly and arrested in 2010 by the then Bahujan Samaj Party government. The city had remained under curfew for a prolonged period in March 2010.
In Agra, Mr. Modi made no reference to the Muzaffarnagar riots, but accused the Congress of indulging in “vote bank” politics and pursuing “divisive policies.”
