Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party on Friday claimed that police lathicharged its workers while they were protesting in several districts against the BJP government’s alleged failure in maintaining law and order in Uttar Pradesh. However, police discounted the claim of lathicharge and said only mild force was used at certain places to keep the protesters under control.
“As per directions of party president Akhilesh Yadav, we held protests across the state. Partymen demonstrating peacefully were unnecessarily lathicharged by the police in Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Aligarh, Amroha and other districts,” SP chief spokesman Rajendra Chowhdury told PTI.
He said over 12 lakh SP workers participated in the protests in 75 districts of the state on ‘Kranti Diwas’, which is observed annually on August 9 to remember the historic ‘Quit India Movement’. “Police acted in an undemocratic way, but the SP will not bend before these arm-twisting tactics of the government,” Chowdhury said.
During protests, SP workers gave memorandums to district magistrates regarding the present “pitiable situation in the state due to BJP’s misrule”, he said. “SP workers are killed, humiliated and atrocities are committed on them. The government has failed to launch any new project in the past about two-and-a-half years of BJP rule,” the spokesman alleged. (PTI)
