If it was “Jungle Raj” ahead of the assembly elections in Bihar, it is "Maha jungle Raj" in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls next year.
Citing 15 years of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party rule in association with the Congress, BJP National Secretary Sreekant Sharma on Friday alleged that criminals were protected by the government and crime figures had reached a new high.
Quoting from the State Crime Records Bureau, Sharma said there was a 161 per cent increase in rape cases compared to 2014-15. In absolute terms this would be 9075 cases in 2015. The National Crime Records Bureau had reported that Uttar Pradesh tops the country in crime against women.
Stating that the actual number of incidents would be higher given that many crimes are not reported, Sharma maintained that the government did nothing about it.
"The biggest example is the Bundelkhand episode where the administration refused to register a case until they came under public pressure. The irony is that Azam Khan, a minister in the government, described it as politically motivated..and the chief minister did not condemn it," elaborated Sharma.
The BJP is hoping to use rising crime in the poll-bound state as its main issue against the Akhilesh Yadav government and the SP party.
