Mulayam Singh Yadav has rejected the charges that his son Akhilesh failed to prevent the Muzaffarnagar riots (File pic)
Within the Samajwadi Party, fissures are deepening over whether Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav failed to prevent communal riots in Muzaffarnagar despite early signs of clear and present danger. Senior Muslim leader Azam Khan has skipped a party meet in Agra. Aides say he is unwell but sources say his absence is a pointed gesture of revolt.
"There are 106 national executive, 26 were absent from the meet...it doesn't matter," said Ram Gopal Yadav, a senior leader and brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Top leaders from the party are meeting in Agra, where the agenda to strategize for the national elections has been hijacked by the deaths of 38 people in communal violence in the western part of the state.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is the chief minister's father and Samajwadi chief has rejected charges that his son's government failed to prevent the violence despite early signs of clear and present danger.
But important Muslim leaders are signalling disagreement. Abu Azmi, for example, said that the goodwill generated among voters by schemes like free laptops for students is being negated; minorities must not feel unsafe, he cautioned.
While the party tries to rope in dissent, it has taken on the Congress, which yesterday demanded that Akhilesh Yadav should accept responsibility for the riots and resign. "The Congress knows that it can only gain in UP if the Samajwadi Party is weakened. So their allegations are based on this calculation," said Samajwadi leader Ram Gopal Yadav.
The invective from the Congress was uncharacteristic. The Samajwadi Party's support props up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's minority government. But with 80 parliamentary seats, Uttar Pradesh is vital for any party that wants to come to power, and the Congress cannot risk the perception of failing to take a stand on an episode that has shaken the state.