UP became haven for terrorists during BSP, SP regimes: Naqvi

BJP on Monday hit out at the ruling BSP and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that the state had become a haven for terrorists during their regimes which saw the rise of radical outfits like HuJI and SIMI.

"Uttar Pradesh has become a haven for terrorists and separatists over the last decade, during the regimes of Mayawati and Mulayam Singh. SIMI and HuJI both have flourished in the state during this period," BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in Ghaziabad.

Naqvi said 50,000 "innocent" Muslim youths lodged in jails across the country, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, on terror charges have been waiting for justice for more than a decade.

If voted to power in the state, BJP will set up a Commission to inquire their cases and the innocent Muslim youths will be freed, he said.

Accusing Congress and Samajwadi Party of doing vote bank politics, he said both the parties tried to rope in Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Maulana Ahmad Bukhari, but the SP won the battle by "bidding higher".

Bukhari had lost faith among Muslims, who are intelligent enough to understand their welfare and development, he claimed.

On the Batla House encounter case, he said both the Congress and SP are attacking each other, but none of them have perfect knowledge about the issue.

He also said that BJP will form a 'Samnaya Warg Nirdhan Aayog' (general class poors commission) to give reservation to weaker sections among upper castes.

Attacking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Naqvi said, "Rahul has poor knowledge about the poverty in the country and he thinks that staying for one night in poor huts is enough to serve them."

He alleged that Rahul has so far done nothing for the poor, who were expecting too much from him.

"Congress, SP and BSP are like old medicines which cannot cure illness like poverty, unemployment, communalism, corruption and blackmoney," he said.