Uttar Pradesh BJP President Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary on Tuesday criticized the Samajwadi Party (SP) over the recent violence in Sambhal, attributing the incident to the party’s internal power struggles.
Chaudhary claimed that the violence in Sambhal was caused by competition between the two factions within the Samajwadi Party, each vying for leadership. He alleged that this internal rivalry provoked the people, leading to the unrest. “The circumstances in Sambhal are in some way or the other caused by the Samajwadi Party’s internal fight for supremacy. It is because of the feeling of competition between the two families to gain leadership of the party. They provoked the people and caused this incident… However, the alertness of our party and the police made sure that the Samajwadi Party was not successful in their agenda… UP CM has announced an investigation into this matter. That will make it clear who is at fault and action will be taken against them…” Chaudhary said.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak assured that fair action would be taken against those responsible. “Fair action will be taken against anyone who is guilty and whoever has suffered will get justice,” Pathak stated.
In response, Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav held the Uttar Pradesh administration accountable for the violence in Sambhal, accusing it of harassing locals by filing false cases. “The administration is responsible. People are being harassed continuously in Sambhal by filing false cases, our MP was not even present, he was in Bengaluru at the time of the incident, but his name has also been included,” Yadav told media.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Moradabad Range, Muniraj G, confirmed that the situation in Sambhal was under control. “The situation is normal in Sambhal today. The markets are operational and function normally. People should not worry; those innocent will not be penalized. Till now, 7 FIRs have been filed. We are identifying people based on video footage,” DIG Muniraj said.
The incident occurred on Sunday when an ASI team visited Shahi Jama Masjid to conduct a fresh survey, as part of a legal process stemming from a petition by senior advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who claimed the mosque was originally a temple. This led to stone-pelting, which has since sparked widespread political debate. Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party, have criticized the Yogi Adityanath government for its handling of the situation.