Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath on Tuesday sharpened the communal polarisation pitch by accusing the Congress of promoting terrorism and the Samajwadi Party of letting off the terrorists who had attacked temples in Ayodhya and Varanasi.

“The Congress pampered the terrorists and closed its eyes when the country faced attacks. The SP supported the criminals in Uttar Pradesh and destroyed law and order here…. They also withdrew cases against the terrorists who had attacked Ayodhya and Kashi (Varanasi) temples,” Adityanath said at a rally in Amroha.

Five Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists had attacked the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya in 2005 when Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister. Security forces on duty had liquidated the attackers on the spot.

A blast had taken place at Sheetala Ghat in Varanasi in 2010 and five persons were arrested in connection with it. Thr Indian Mujahideen had taken responsibility for the attack in which a girl was killed and 20 persons sustained injuries. Akhilesh Yadav was the chief minister at that time. The case is still sub-judice and the accused are in jail.

Escalating his attack, Adityanath referred to a comment by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006 that “Muslims should have the first right over the land of the country”.

Reacting to a similar remark made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in Rajasthan, the Congress said Modi was resorting to “lies” and “hate speech” to divert people from the real issues after facing “disappointment” in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.

Later, Adityanath took out a road show from Purani Delhi Chungi to Lal Bazar Chauraha in the adjoining Meerut parliamentary constituency. Sources in the state government said there were around 4,000 police personnel deployed around the chief minister.

Maya’s promise

BSP president Mayawati on Tuesday said she would fulfil the long pending demand for a bench of Allahabad High Court in Meerut if her party formed the government at the Centre.

Mayawati in Meerut. Picture by Shivam Kannojia

“You have been demanding a bench of Allahabad High Court in Meerut the way a bench is there in Lucknow. But the Centre has not shown any interest so far in doing this. We will take a positive decision in this direction if voted to power,” she said at an election rally in Meerut.