Lucknow: Sardhana in Meerut witnessed high drama at noon on Friday when a defiant BJP MLA Sangeet Som, along with thousands of his supporters, made an attempt to take out his much publicised ‘Nirbhaya Yatra’, ostensibly, to instill confidence among Hindus.
The yatra was stalled about two kilometres from of Sardhana but Mr Som served an ultimatum to the Akhilesh government to bring back the migrants to Kairana within 15 days or else he would resume his yatra.
The local administration had imposed prohibitory orders in Sardhana late on Thursday night, but Mr Som’s supporters were allowed to assemble outside his house, raise provocative slogans and even wave firearms in the air. The MLA and his supporters were, however, stopped near the Sardh-ana canal, about two kilometres outside the township, and prevented from moving forward.
Since the legislator’s purpose of getting required publicity over the Kairana migration issue was achieved, he readily agreed to stall his yatra.
Mr Som further said, “A CBI inquiry into the issue will reveal the truth behind migration in Kairana and Kandhla. I will stand with the people of Uttar Pradesh and fight for their rights. If people are migrating from Kairana, we will make all efforts to bring them back. We will not let UP become Kashmir”, he said.
The Kairana issue, on Friday, also revealed the differences within the BJP over the issue and the eagerness of its leaders to claim the credit for the situation arising over the migration issue.
Mr Hukum Singh, BJP MP from Kairana who had raised the issue of migration from his constituency, had appealed to Mr Som not to undertake the yatra which could disrupt communal harmony in his constituency.
State BJP president Keshav Maurya, on the other hand, distanced himself from Mr Som’s yatra and said that the party was not involved in any such programme.
