Muzaffarnagar violence: Angry Mulayam warns son Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow: Mulayam Singh Yadav is reportedly angry at the way the Uttar Pradesh government, headed by his son Akhilesh Yadav, has handled law and ordered in Muzaffarnagar, where 28 people died and more than three dozen were injured in communal violence over the weekend.

The Samajwadi Party chief called a meeting of his party's top leaders at his Lucknow residence on Sunday, where he reportedly told UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, "Incidents like this will not only hurt the party's prospects in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but also tar your image as an administrator."

This morning, the state's Governor BL Joshi has submitted a report on the communal violence to the Centre. He has reportedly accused the chief minister of failing to preserve communal harmony.

The state police has now registered a first information report against 40 people, including four BJP legislators and a Congress leader, for inciting mobs in Muzaffarnagar.

Mr Yadav senior has been in Lucknow since Saturday evening and is monitoring the situation closely. IANS reported that it was at his behest that the Army's help was sought to contain the spread of violence, which had found inroads into the western UP countryside.

A Samajwadi Party leader said Mulayam Singh Yadav was upset at the failure of the state police to prevent  violence despite the area having been tense for about 10 days and gave a dressing down to home department officials, most of whom he had personally hand-picked when the SP government took over last year.

He also spoke to religious heads in western UP and asked them to appeal for calm and talked on the phone to party leaders there for reports from the violence-hit areas.

Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani was present at Mr Yadav's meeting yesterday and he reportedly informed the SP chief that he had issued advisories to district officials that there could be possible communal tension in some parts of the state and asked them to take adequate steps. Officials, however, did not take this seriously, Mr Yadav was told.