Are these BJP leaders getting away lightly?

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be over before any action may be taken against BJP president Amit Shah and MP Yogi Adityanath for their alleged hate speeches, says Sharat Pradhan    

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and party MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath, who have been accused of inciting communal passions in Uttar Pradesh, are likely to go unpunished before the assembly polls in the state on September 13.

A court on Thursday refused to take cognisance of the chargesheet against Amit Shah in connection with the alleged hate speech made by him in April. The court has asked the police to carry out fresh investigation and submit a revised chargesheet. 

Saffron clad MP Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday defied the Lucknow district magistrate’s ban to address a rally in Lucknow, in support of BJP nominee Ashutosh Tandon.

Adityanath blasted the Samajwadi Party government of being partisan and “indulging in blatant appeasement of Muslims.”

“The UP government’s communal agenda has resulted in the state witnessing 45 communal incidents over the past two-and-a-half years. The government is not bothered about the poor condition of roads or the lack of health care, but it is allocating Rs 300 crore for repair or construction of boundary walls around Muslim graveyards,” he said.

The Allahabad High Court where a writ petition has been moved against Aditynath’s  'love jihad' campaign  has fixed the first hearing for September 15 --two days after the ballot boxes are sealed .

On April 3, Amit Shah had landed in a major controversy for allegedly saying that the 2014 Lok Sabha polls were an opportunity to seek “revenge for the insult” inflicted during the riots in Muzaffarnagar last year.

An FIR lodged with the Muzaffarnagar police on charges of inciting communal enmity between different religious groups. He was also charged under the Representation of People Act for using religion to further the interest of his party.

A chargesheet prepared against him on July 30 was submitted before the local court in Muzaffarnagar only on Wednesday. But the court returned the chargesheet pointing out several inconsistencies in it.

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