Lucknow, Apr 13 (PTI) Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, alleging a complete breakdown in law and order and accusing the administration of shielding criminals.

He also claimed that the state had never witnessed such levels of lawlessness.

“The BJP government has pushed the state into an era of chaos. Law and order has collapsed. Criminals are roaming freely, brandishing weapons on the streets and issuing death threats while the government and police remain silent spectators,” a Samajwadi Party statement quoted Yadav as saying.

“From Agra to Varanasi, anarchic elements have run riot under the protection of the ruling party. The police are helpless under pressure from those in power. Feudal forces are being emboldened to suppress the voice of the poor, backward classes, Dalits and the minorities,” he added.

Yadav also condemned the alleged attack on Harish Mishra, a vocal Samajwadi Party leader locally known as “Banaras-wale Mishra ji”, in Varanasi.

“The blood-soaked clothes of Mishra ji are a grim reminder of the state’s shattered law-and-order machinery,” he said.

Yadav asserted Samajwadi Party workers were prepared to face such attacks with strength and resolve.

“The BJP has failed to control crime. Incidents of murder, loot and rape are on the rise. The government’s so-called zero-tolerance policy on crime has become zero in reality,” he said.

He alleged that the administration, acting under the BJP’s influence, was encouraging anarchy while targeting the poor and the marginalised.

“In Lucknow, the attempt to remove a statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar is an example of the government’s anti-Dalit mindset. Whether it’s in Gorakhpur or Lucknow, statues and symbols of social justice are being removed to assert caste dominance,” he said.

The former chief minister said the people of Uttar Pradesh would no longer tolerate the “BJP’s goondaraj and anarchy” and expressed confidence that the public would bring the Samajwadi Party back to power in the 2027 polls to restore constitutional values and the rule of law. PTI ABN ABN SZM SZM