Lucknow: The Opposition on Friday attacked UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on SP leader Narendra Bhati’s claim that he had got IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal suspended, saying the truth behind the suspension has been exposed.
“On one hand Akhilesh had justified action against IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, on the other his own party leader Narinder Bhati, who enjoys minister rank, had claimed that he got her transferred,” BJP chief spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said here.
Pathak said transferring officers on the recommendation of party leaders is a serious issue and if such things happen it would dent the morale of the bureaucracy.
“The party had already said that while the government is shielding corrupt officers, it is victimising the honest one and suspension of Nagpal is a glaring example,” he alleged. The BJP spokesman demanded the report of Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate should be made public.
Meanwhile, taking strong exception to Bhati’s comments the BSP demanded Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s resignation on moral grounds.
“The truth has been exposed in the claims of Samajwadi Party leader who is seen bragging that he got the IAS officer suspended in mere 41 minutes,” Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha and senior BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya said.
The SP leader’s claim shows that the chief minister had issued a wrong statement on Thursday and so he should own moral responsibility and resign. “Either of them is not speaking the truth,” Maurya said.
He also called for the Governor and Central government to take suo moto notice of the issue. The BSP leader claimed that Nagpal had been suspended under pressure from the mining mafia in the state.
SP leader Narinder Bhati landed in a controversy after a video purportedly showed him as claiming that he had got UP IAS officer transferred in “41 minutes”.
The claim was made by Bhati while addressing a rally in Gautam Budh Nagar, two days after he denied his involvement in the suspension of the 28-year-old officer.
UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav yesterday stoutly defended Nagpal’s suspension, saying her action to demolish the wall of a religious place had “vitiated” communal harmony.
Facing intense criticism over the suspension of the IAS officer by the UP government on July 27, an unyielding Akhilesh was also at pains to explain there was no connection between sand mining and government’s action against her. He termed the action as “valid”.
Defending Bhati’s statement, the Samajwadi Party today said that it is the duty of all party workers to forewarn the Chief Minister about anything that could disturb communal harmony in the state.
“Wall of a mosque was demolished and that too in the month of Ramzan, could lead to communal flare up… Bhati has informed the CM timely and the action taken against the IAS officer was justified as she did not act responsibly,” SP spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury said. (PTI)