Shah in Lko today, Unnao case in focus

BJP chief to hold talks with CM amid growing opposition onslaught

LUCKNOW: The Unnao incident is expected to figure in the talks between chief minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP chief Amit Shah on Wednesday.

Ahead of the BJP chief’s arrival, Adityanath ordered the Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the case to submit a preliminary report by Wednesday evening, senior officials of the chief minister’s office confirmed.

Three cases are getting mixed up in the rush for quick news, a senior police official said.

“The first case is when the victim first made the rape charge in which she didn’t mention the lawmakers’ name. The police subsequently filed a chargesheet on the issue. The second case started when the victim and her family levelled rape allegations on the BJP MLA. The third pertains to the assault on rape victim’s father. Arrest has been made in the third case. In any case the chief minister has sought a preliminary report by Wednesday itself,” the official said.

The BJP chief would be in the state capital on Wednesday and the Unnao issue could well be the latest addition on his agenda that already includes placating an angry ally, discussing strategic expansion of the Adityanath ministry with an eye on 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Growing Dalit unrest within the party with several Dalit MPs accusing the party of ignoring Dalit interest and checking up preparedness on party-government coordination are expected to be other items on his agenda.

But it’s the Unnao incident in which a BJP lawmaker has been accused of gangrape and his brother held for allegedly causing fatal injuries to the father of the rape accused that has given fresh voice to the opposition to contest Adityanath’s claim of marked improvement on crime and law and order front in its one year rule, BJP leaders admit.

Shah is expected to land in Lucknow around afternoon. On the day, he will also garland the statue of Dalit icon Jyotiba Phule on his birth anniversary.

“They used to say beti-padhao, beti-bachao. In just one year the slogan has changed to beti-bacaho bhajapa walon se (save daughters from BJP men),” said Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh.

Dismissing the arrest of the lawmaker’s brother as ‘eyewash’, Singh said, “The MLA should have been behind bars by now after being thrown out of the party.” Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi had already tweeted his condemnation of the incident and Adityanath government’s handling of the issue.

“Nothing short of MLA’s arrest would do. This government has done nothing. Our party chief Akhilesh Yadav has already demanded the dismissal of Yogi government and that’s the official line of the party,” said Tariq Siddiqui of the Samajwadi Party.