After photo row, Hema Malini turns the tables on UP government

Actress and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Hema Malini, who is facing flak for sharing pictures of her film shoot as violence erupted in her constituency, on Saturday sought to blame the Akhilesh Yadav government for the incident, saying it needs to look into the law and order situation.

The BJP leader stressed that she rushed to Mathura immediately after getting the news of the violence and had cancelled all her film shoots.

“I was shooting for a film so I said it. After that this incident happened. Last night, I reached here. I cancelled all my shootings and came here. I will come when my presence is required. I have other work also. I was here for the last 10 days. I just went and the next day this happened,” the actress said trying to downplay her gaffe of tweeting pictures of her film shoot.

The BJP MP blamed the situation in Mathura on the approach of the UP government.

“The UP government really needs to look into the law and order situation in which they had given some liberties. In the past two years all this has been happening. I have got to hear so. But, whenever I have come here in the past two years, people have been talking to me only about development. So what I have to do I have been doing,” she told reporters.

Malini said police wanted to remove encroachments but were not getting orders from the state government to do so.

“They wanted to do it but they were not getting orders from the state government to remove this. This is the state government’s issue. Why they are after me? It is very funny. And you ask the people of Mathura. They will tell you what I am doing here. How much work I am doing. I don’t have to prove to you people.

“The people of Mathura will tell you what I am doing here and how much I am doing. Within a year you will be able to see everything because it takes time because nothing was being done in the last two years which I am trying to do my best very genuinely, very seriously.

A total of 24 people, including a superintendent of police and station house officer, were killed in clashes between police and members of a sect who had encroached on government land in Mathura on Thursday. The Mathura MP said she got to know about the situation in Jawahar Bagh two months ago and had spoken to the district magistrate about it.

“I told him that if this has been happening since the past two years then why did you not get it removed earlier because these people had come to take shelter only for two days and continued for two years.

“How have you allowed this. So they were planning to remove all encroachments.... The police were planning to remove these people in a proper manner which did not happen. The inquiry is very much required as two very capable officers of the police including the SP have lost their lives which I truly regret as I have also met that officer,” she said.

“Somebody is supporting that is why these people were able to sit. With that support those people were here for the last two years and then the police got orders from high court to remove those encroachments

“Just because I tweeted you people are thinking that I am not a proper person which is very silly of you people. That is all I can say,” she said.