Akhilesh Yadav visits Raebareli amid Cong-SP stand-off
The visit triggered speculation that the Samajwadi Party leader is trying to raise the stakes against the Congress party
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday made an unexpected visit to Bachhrawan village in Raebareli district, triggering speculation that the Samajwadi Party leader is trying to raise the stakes against the Congress party.
The Raebareli constituency is represented in Parliament by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Yadav’s visit to the district comes just days after Gandhi criticized his administration for the suspension of Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who had been fighting illegal sand mining.
Yadav, who reached Bachhrawan village on Wednesday morning, reviewed development works and announced several projects, including the construction of roads and a bridge, said a person familiar with the developments.
Gandhi, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, wrote there was widespread concern over the suspension of Nagpal, who, in the course of her public duties, was seen to be standing up against those engaging in illegal sand mining. This evoked sharp responses from the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh against her intervention in the matter.
While both the SP and the Congress party fought elections separately in the 2009 Lok Sabha and the 2012 state assembly elections, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance banks heavily on the support of the SP in both houses of Parliament.
The Congress has been struggling to increase its presence in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state that sends 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha. The party won 21 seats from Uttar Pradesh in the previous Lok Sabha election.
Nagpal was suspended last month allegedly for bringing down a wall at a place of worship in Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. The issue was politicized with the SP and the state’s main opposition Bahujan Samaj Party trading charges over the episode.
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