Adityanath govt has become an ‘inquiry committee’: SP

LUCKNOW: With nearly half a dozen projects launched by former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav under the CBI scanner, the SP has attacked the Adityanath government saying it has reduced itself into an "inquiry committee". As the state's BJP government completes 100 days in the office in the next few days, a Samajwadi Party spokesperson said it was resorting to such tactics to "smokescreen its failures". "It smacks of politics of vendetta," party's chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury saidhere.

It reflects that the state government relies more on central investigating agencies, like the CBI, than on its own machinery for carrying out any probe, he alleged. Since taking office on March 19, the Adityanath government has recommended CBI probes into several projects of the previous Samajwadi Party regime led by Akhilesh Yadav.

These include alleged irregularities in the functioning of Shia and Sunni waqf boards, Akhilesh's dream project of Gomti riverfront development, mobile creche scheme, and also into the death of Karnataka-based IAS officer Anurag Tiwari in Lucknow last month.

Besides, acting on an Allahabad High Court directive, the state government has recommended a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the construction of Delhi-saharanpur Yamunotri highway.

"It seems the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has become an inquiry committee. It's engaging in politics of vendetta, and more so to smokescreen its failures in delivering on the pre-poll promises," Chowdhury said.

In its probe into alleged irregularities in the Yamunotri highway construction, the UP Police found out that Rs 455 crore were siphoned off by a Hyderabad-based firm, which undertook the project, in connivance with staff of 14 banks and some chartered accountants (CAS).