After Amit Shah leaves, Yogi Adityanath calls law & order meet

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.

Hours after BJP chief Amit Shah wrapped up his three-day visit to Lucknow on Monday and left for Delhi, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath called a meeting of ministers and top government officials, where he is said to have expressed concern over complaints of poor law and order situation. Sources said he directed officials, including Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar and DGP Sulkhan Singh, to ensure that cases are lodged and the accused arrested.

Sources further said he had also expressed dissatisfaction over the working of the departments of basic education, secondary education and irrigation. A minister told The Indian Express that the meeting was called under instructions issued by Shah on the basis of feedback received from different quarters, including the RSS. The minister also said Shah was most concerned about the law and order situation.

Sources said that apart from Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar and the CM’s principal secretary SP Goyal, BJP’s national vice-president and state in-charge Om Mathur, the party’s national joint general secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash and its state general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal were also present at the meeting. All ministers in-charge were asked to regularly meet party workers, MLAs, MPs and workers of the ‘vichar parivar’ (RSS and its offshoots) in the districts and redress their issues.

At a meeting with Shah Saturday, several BJP district presidents, sources said, had alleged that government officers in the districts were not paying heed to complaints and recommendations of local BJP workers and MLAs. BJP’s allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party, too, had raised the issue.