Naxal, conspiracy angle in Noida stir reflects police failure: Akhilesh

Lucknow: Questioning chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s suspicion of attempts to reignite Naxal sentiments in the garb of workers’ protest in Noida, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said govt looking at a conspiracy angle has put a question mark on the capabilities of the state police’s intelligence network.“If the honourable chief minister is calling the workers’ protest in Noida a conspiracy, then the question arises as to what the intelligence wing of the state police was doing all this while,” Akhilesh said. “If this charge is true, then were the sleuths busy accompanying you to West Bengal to campaign for elections or doing chores other than policing,” he asked. “Before discrediting the protests of workers by linking it to Naxalism, the govt must explain what it has done in the past 10 years that has driven the workers to the situation that they are in today. If you can’t give relief to workers, don’t rub salt on their wounds,” Akhilesh said.“Rising prices of essential commodities due to rampant practice of BJP men charging commission has already hit the poor workers hard. On top of that, heaping allegations of Naxalism and conspiracy on these workers is deplorable. Such statements can only push the situation from bad to worse,” Akhilesh cautioned.Describing the protest by workers in Noida as a result of BJP govt’s pro-capitalist policies, Akhilesh said the labourers were demanding that their wages be revised in line with adjoining states where such an exercise has already taken place.“Injustice is being meted out to people through uncontrolled price rise. Today, numerous vehicles in Noida have been torched. Even the police had to flee from the scene. Police vehicles have also been damaged,” Akhilesh said, responding to a media query. He said the protesting workers had been demanding revision of wages for quite some time but the govt had turned a deaf ear to these demands.“The govt’s fault is that the demands of workers were not addressed in time. In other states, wages have been increased, so why not in UP? The govt does not want to listen to workers,” Akhilesh said.He said the protests in Noida were a result of BJP’s policies, which nourish capitalists and industrialists and exploit daily wagers and salaried workers. “BJP ensures that ATMs of capitalists and industrialists who give donations have money but the ATMs of labourers and workers have no cash to dispense,” he said.“Only a family man can understand the struggle of making the two ends meet for himself,” Akhilesh said.