Akhilesh has no control over officials, party workers: BJP

Lucknow, May 17 (IANS) Launching its first offensive against the two-month-old Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday alleged that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had virtually no control over his officers or the party workers.

Recalling how the 38-year-old chief minister had promised to rein in lumpen elements within the party, BJP spokesman Vijay Pathak said the records of the past two months proved otherwise.

"Policemen are being beaten up, being killed inside police stations... Is this the law and order the SP government was speaking of," asked the BJP leader while reeling out a long list of similar incidents when policemen were hounded by ruling party workers.

Accusing the SP government of failing to curb crime, the BJP said the state had become a hub of lawlessness as officials were also not paying heed to what Akhilesh Yadav was promising.

"Pick up any newspaper on any given day and you will feel that everything is happening in the state but what Akhilesh Yadav wants," the spokesman said, adding that the huge mandate in favour of the Samajwadi party should not be squandered so early.

Adding that the party would soon expose the government on its failures, the BJP advised the chief minister to control crime and maintain law and order as it was essential for the development of the state.