LUCKNOW: The BJP and the Samajwadi Party have predictably crossed swords over the violence in Saharanpur that left three persons dead. A probe into the communal violence by a five member committee headed by Uttar Pradesh Minister Shivpal Yadav has criticised the role of the administration, and also questioned the role of the BJP.


The BJP in response has dismissed the report, maintaining that it was tutored by the Samajwadi Party to gain political mileage.

The report has been submitted to UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. The SP national secretary general Naresh Agarwal reporters said that a BJP MP has been named in the report. “As the role of a BJP MP has also come to the fore we can say that the BJP has a role in the Saharanpur incident,” he said. The report maintains that this MP incited the crowd to violence.


The administration has been blamed for not alerting the Chief Minister and the government of impending violence. And according to the report the authorities became active only after the violence had broken out, and direct instructions were issued from Lucknow.


The BJP denied this saying that it was the state government that was responsible, and was trying to blame the party. Bahujan Samaj party leader Mayawati stepped in to blame both the BJP and the SP for the tension, pointing out that both the parties were trying to garner support from the violence.


The committee set up by the state government clearly does not have the credibility as it comprises Samajwadi party leaders. Other member include Minister for Rural Development Arvind Singh Gope and party leaders, including a district president of Saharanpur.


Members of two communities clashed in Kutubsher area of Saharanpur on July 26 when one started construction on a piece of disputed land on July 26. The row snowballed into a major confrontation with shops and vehicles being torched, and the clashing communities being dispersed only after paramilitary reinforcements had been pressed into service.


The western belt of UP has been simmering, with communal eruptions such as the one in Saharanpur which left three dead and dozens injured, since the Muzaffarnagar riots that spread from the town area into the villages in a matter of hours. At that time too both the SP and BJP had blamed each other, although the BJP swept the area in the Lok Sabha elections.


Violence erupted in Kutubsher area of Saharanpur on July 26 when members of two communities clashed for several hours over a land dispute. The violence had claimed three lives and left more than 20 people injured.