Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini, who was convicted in a case related to the 2013 riots, lost his membership of the assembly for protecting Muzaffarnagar's dignity and self-respect.
Vikram Saini, a two-time MLA from Khatauli was disqualified after a court sentenced him two years imprisonment in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case. The BJP has fielded his wife Rajkumari Saini for the December 5 bypoll for the seat.
"Vikram Singh Saini lost his membership not because of some family issue, but because of trying to protect Muzaffarnagar's dignity and self-respect. It was a politically motivated and fabricated case," the chief minister told a rally while campaigning for the BJP candidate.
In October, a special MP/MLA court in Muzaffarnagar had sentenced Vikram Saini and 11 others to two years imprisonment in the case. Special Judge Gopal Upadhyay had convicted them for rioting and other offences and had also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them.
Vikram Saini was disqualifed and the assembly secretariat declared the Khatauli seat vacant, amid RLD president Jayant Chaudhary's protest against Speaker Satish Mahana on ending the membership of Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Azam Khan following his conviction in a hate speech case but allegedly sparing Saini.
In the bypoll, BJP's Rajkumari Saini got a boost in her fight against RLD-SP nominee Madan Bhaiya after Independent candidate Sudhesh Devi's husband and Ravindra Singh announced support to the saffron party.
The Muzaffarnagar riots were triggered by the killing of Devi's son Gaurav Singh and his cousin Sachin, and another man, Shahnawaz, in Kawal village in 2013, and her contesting the bypoll was being seen as a hurdle for the BJP. Riots across the district claimed 62 lives and displaced more than 40,000 people.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP's rivals, Adityanath said Muzaffarnagar is safe and peaceful today only because of the presence of the party's government in the state. The chief minister also warned people against the SP and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)combine's "conspiracy" to create 'Taliban rule' in the state".
"Farmers could not go to their lands, tubewell connections were cut, machines were stolen and their throats slit. Besides, girls could not go to school and women to markets because of safety issues," he said.
"People were forced to flee Kairana and Kandala during the SP's and Lok Dal's rule. People can never forget the cruelty meted out to Sachin and Gaurav during the SP's rule (in the state)," Adityanath said.
Urging people to not allow "professional criminals" of the SP to come to power, he said the "Kawal ka bawal" is a curse of the SP. Bringing strictness was necessary to restore the rule of law in Uttar Pradesh and that is what the BJP government did after coming to power in the state, dealing with criminals in the language they understood the best, Adityanath said.
He claimed that strangely, the RLD that stood for farmers' interest and never supported criminals during late Chaudhary Charan Singh's time has now become the SP's partner in crime, adding to the woes of farmers.
The "double engine" government of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh is following the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas', irrespective of caste or creed. Development is taking place without appeasement or discrmination, he said.
"We provided the benefits of the Prime Minister Awas Yojana and Chief Minister Awas Yojana to every poor, toilets to every needy, in addition to electricity connections under the Saubhagya Yojana and gas cylinders under the Ujjwala Yojana to crores of people. We are also providing an annual pension of Rs 12,000 to the elderly, to destitute women and widows and the differently-abled," the chief minister said.
"Uttar Pradesh is a land of religion and sends the message of peace. But when religion was in crisis, it revolted. The kanwar yatra which could not take place during the SP's rule is being carried out with much fanfare now and would be even grander once Gang Nahar is allowed to be built by the forest department," he said. He said the Ram temple is being built in Ayodhya while Kashi and Mathura have been renovated and beautified.
(With PTI Inputs)
