Patna (Bihar) [India], October 4 : After the Samajwadi Party delegation was stopped from visiting Bareilly following September 26 protests, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said on Saturday that there is no need to send a delegation, further accusing Akhilesh Yadav and his party of disrupting law and order in the state.
Tense situation prevailed in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where protests over "I Love Mohammad" posters on September 26 turned violent.
Speaking to ANI, Keshav Prasad Maurya said, "SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and his allies are constantly trying to disrupt the law and order situation in the state. When the Samajwadi Party was in power, there were riots in the state. After the BJP came to power, the state has become riot-free. No one can be allowed to play with law and order. There is no need to send a delegation to Bareilly. The Samajwadi Party is practising appeasement politics, which will not benefit them. The Samajwadi Party has no future in Uttar Pradesh."
Earlier today, an MP delegation of the Samajwadi Party, including Mohibbullah Nadvi, Iqra Hasan, and Harendra Singh Malik, en route to Bareilly following last week's 'I Love Mohammad' row, was stopped at the Ghazipur border by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
Visuals showed the members of the delegation arguing with the police personnel deployed to maintain law and order.
"We are being stopped from going to Bareilly. This is unconstitutional... The BJP government first oppresses people with great vengeance and then tries to cover it up," SP MP Mohibbullah Nadvi told ANI.
SP leader Iqra Hasan linked the situation with an "undeclared emergency" and said that their visit does not have an agenda.
"We don't understand on what grounds we are being stopped in the way of an undeclared emergency. We request the administration to accompany us. We are not trying to hide anything. We don't have any agendas... I don't know which of its evil deeds the UP government wants to cover up that its not allowing us to go to Bareilly..." she said.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) National General Secretary Nafees Khan and his son Farman Khan in connection with the September 26 protests in Bareilly, taking the total arrests in the case to 81. According to the police, Farman used to handle the Facebook page of IMC.
Earlier today, the Bareilly Development Authority (BDA) carried out a bulldozer action on the property of Dr Nafees following his arrest in connection with the 'I Love Muhammad' protests outside Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's house on September 26.