We are witnessing a historic election being held in Uttar Pradesh. All the political parties are going all out to lure voters. While on the one hand, the BJP is urging the people to vote for CM Yogi Adityanath with their entire emphasis on the strengthening of the law and order situation since Yogi Ji assumed power.

Law and order have always been the most important issue for Uttar Pradesh, and in this regard, the Samajwadi Party is very infamous as their rule brought in what can be rightly called the Dark Age of Uttar Pradesh. During Akhilesh Yadav’s regime, Uttar Pradesh was indeed called ‘Danga-Pradesh‘. Within the first few months of Akhilesh’s rule, large-scale communal violence took place in Meerut, Mathura, Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Bareilly, and Prayagraj.

The Law and Order situation was so grim that even a minor incident used to turn into a full-fledged communal riot. The Samajwadi Party committed many law and order blunders during its rule and in this article, we will discuss 5 such law and order blunders.

Mishandling of Muzaffarnagar riots

Readers may be aghast to know that Uttar Pradesh witnessed more than 200 communal riots during Akhilesh’s regime. Muzaffarnagar riot was the most infamous one, and its impact can be seen in Western UP (also known as Jat-Land) to date. Akhilesh Yadav gave a free hand to his most influential cabinet minister Azam Khan, who did not allow the district police to arrest the Muslims who killed 2 young Jat boys. Instead, they slapped grave charges on the victims and ensured Muslims had an upper hand.

This led to further resentment among Hindus. Akhilesh Yadav did not visit Muzaffarnagar, his government was wholeheartedly supporting the murderers and their community. When riot victims were suffering in relief camps, Akhilesh Yadav and his government were hosting a lavish Bollywood festival in home town, Saifai. Later this case went to the Supreme Court, which held the Samajwadi government guilty of negligence and ordered the immediate arrest of all accused.

Pathetic track record on women safety

Samajwadi Party’s track record is next to pathetic when it comes to Women’s Safety. Remember the infamous statement of Mulayam Singh Yadav where he said “Ladko se galti to jati hai. Kya rape case mein phansi di jayegi” (Boys make mistakes. Should we hang them for the crime of rape?). Akhilesh Yadav also continues to play down the atrocities committed against women during his regime.

The NCRB report reflects how bad the situation was at that time. Uttar Pradesh used to witness multiple incidents of crimes against women, almost on a daily basis, well this was happening because the Chief Minister used to laugh off such incidents instead of taking them seriously. Once when a female journalist asked him about the four gruesome rape cases in the state in the span of two days, Akhilesh Yadav mocked her and said, “Aapko toh khatra nahi hua na” (you didn’t face any threat, right?). This was the kind of insensitivity displayed by Akhilesh Yadav and the Samajwadi Party, that further encouraged the anti-women elements in the society.

Tried to withdraw cases against terrorists

As atrocious as it sounds, the fact remains that the Akhilesh government actually went ahead and tried to withdraw cases against terrorists like Shameem and Waliullah, both of whom were accused in the Varanasi serial blast that took the lives of 25 innocent people. Such was the shamelessness of Akhilesh Yadav that he even put it in the party’s election manifesto.

In the Samajwadi Party’s election manifesto of 2012, the leadership promised to review charges against terror suspects, to prevent the harassment of ‘innocents’ (read Muslims). Fortunately, the court slammed Akhilesh Yadav’s government for trying to encourage terrorism and protect the accused to appease its loyal Muslim vote bank.

Practiced patronage politics by rewarding Yadavs and Muslims

Akhilesh Yadav practiced patronage politics by giving key posts in state bureaucracy at every possible level to Yadavs. It is said that 70% of the police stations were headed by Yadav officers, and there was an unwritten rule of appointing a Muslim in every police station, in the name of giving equal opportunity to the so-called marginal section of our society.

However, this disparity created a massive law and order bottleneck, as police stopped registering cases if the accused were Yadav or Muslims. Most district police chiefs used to work in accordance with the Yadav family’s whims and fancy to remain in their good books. Such was the situation that the Allahabad High Court slammed the Samajwadi party and made a stern observation questioning it “why it is so that whenever your government comes into power, a specific caste is empowered at all levels?”

Open support to mafias and gangsters

Mafias and gangsters are the biggest threat to the law and order of any state. What if the state government starts patronizing them and also gives them political support?

The Samajwadi Party has always nurtured the big mafias and took political advantage of them. It is the Samajwadi Party that gave political prominence to the dreaded mafia of Uttar Pradesh, Mukhtar Ansari, and Atiq Ahmed. Both of these mafias are known for committing hundreds of crimes and are currently lodged in jail. But the Samajwadi Party always gave tickets to these two criminals to fight elections in order to lure its Muslim vote bank.

Mukhtar Ansari, who is currently in jail, has been fighting and winning on a Samajwadi Party ticket since 1996 but the Samajwadi Party has given tickets to his son and nephew. At the same time, Atiq Ahmed has also been a five-time MLA on a Samajwadi Party ticket. When mafias receive government support, how can law and order be maintained?

Samajwadi Party has such an abysmal track record as far as the law and order is concerned that the party has itself become the biggest threat to law and order in Uttar Pradesh. We hope people will take the correct decision and ensure mafia raj does not return to Uttar Pradesh.