Akhilesh asks party cadre to list officials who have been 'partial'

Lucknow, Sep 15 The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday asked all its party leaders and workers to draw up a list of bureaucrats and police officials 'who have worked against law in the BJP regime' and have not shown suitable behaviour towards the public.

"These officials will be taken to task once the Samajwadi Party (SP) forms government in UP. None of those who have exceeded their brief or worked in political interests will be spared," said Akhilesh during a meeting in the party office here.

In every district, party leaders have been asked to prepare a list of civil and police officials who have targeted SP workers and the common people during the past four and a half years.

"The police have set up false cases against innocent people, SP workers have also been booked in criminal cases and the poor have been a victim of police atrocities. We are preparing a list," said a SP district president.

A senior party functionary said that it was important to teach such officials a lesson so that they do not behave in a similar manner in the future.

He said that it has been seen that people belonging to a particular community have especially been targeted by the police in villages and district headquarters.

"This was done only to please their political bosses and, in many cases, the police have gone beyond the boundaries of law," he added.

Sources in the party said that Akhilesh was particularly upset at those officers who had gone out of their way to malign his image and please the BJP chief minister.

"Some officials in the estate department had planted stories about Akhilesh having ripped off faucets from his official residence when he vacated it. He was called 'toti-chor' by the BJP leaders. This kind of behaviour by government officers is unpardonable," said a party leader.

The Samajwadi Party is apparently confident of forming a government in Uttar Pradesh in 2022 and is drawing up its plans for governance.