BJP leader backs Adityanath’s ‘UP to become another Kashmir’ remark

New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) A day after BJP leader Yogi Adityanath raked up the issue of alleged exodus of members of a particular community from western Uttar Pradesh,

BJP state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya on Tuesday supported his claim.

"What Adityanath ji said is a fact," Maurya, a Lok Sabha member from Phulpur, told IANS outside Parliament.

Addressing a rally in Bulandshahr on Monday, Adityanath said western Uttar Pradesh could soon become "another Kashmir", alluding to the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley during the early 1990s.

Adityanath, who represents Gorakhpur in the Lok Sabha, alleged the situation was particularly grim in districts such as Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat and Meerut.

Last year, BJP MP Hukum Singh had alleged that more than 300 Hindu families have left Muslim-dominated Kairana because of threats and attacks after the 2013 riots in the area.

The local administration has, however, denied all such claims.

"They (officials) will speak the truth only when we come to power," Maurya said when told about the local authorities' denial of "exodus" of a particular community.

Last week, BJP National President Amit Shah, while releasing the party's manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh elections, said that District Magistrates would be held accountable for migration of people due to communal strife.