Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh will finally visit Muzaffarnagar, about seven months after the western Uttar Pradesh town and its neighbouring areas were rocked by communal violence, leaving 60 people dead and rendering about 50,000 persons homeless.
Mr. Singh is scheduled to address an election rally in Muzaffarnagar in support of SP candidate Virendra Singh on Sunday. His next stop will be Shamli, another district jolted by the September 2013 communal riots, where he will address a rally in support of Nahid Hasan, party candidate from Kairana.
However, Mr. Singh will make only a brief appearance in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said the election meeting in Muzaffarnagar would be held at 11.30 a.m. on Numaish Maidan on April 6. It would be followed by the election meeting on the ground opposite Panipat Road Madarsa in Shamli district at 12.45 p.m.
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Notwithstanding the Opposition criticism of the Akhilesh Yadav government for “the inept handling of the communal situation” that sparked off the riots, Mr. Singh has so far stayed away from Muzaffarnagar.
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