LUCKNOW: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Thursday that had his government not cracked down on illegal slaughter houses, the state would have seen the maximum number of moblynching cases.

“Had we not closed down illegal slaughter houses in UP, there would have been maximum number of moblynching in UP. We are happy that no such incident took place here,” he told TOI in an interview. “It should be obligatory on every state to crack down on such incidents. However, people should respect each other’s sentiments. The worst case of mob lynching was witnessed in 1984, on the streets of Delhi,” he added.

He said steps like forming “anti-Romeo squads” were taken by his government as a concerted strategy. “In the previous regime, girl students felt insecure as crowd of hooligans stood outside their schools. All such things have now stopped. Crackdown on criminals was necessary to instil a sense of confidence in the people. Crime rate had shot up mainly because of organised crime getting state patronage earlier,” he said.

Terming the opposition alliance in UP for 2019 as a “headless coalition which is bound to fail”, the chief minister said: “They first need to sort out as to who will work under whose leadership. Will Mayawati work under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav? Or, will Akhilesh Yadav work under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi ?”

When asked about BJP's contingency plan in the event of a Bihar-like ‘mahagathbandhan’ in UP, he said “they will not be able to do anything in UP” and claimed BJP will win at least 75 of 80 LS seats.

Debunking the charge of carrying out a saffron agenda in governance, the chief minister said: “We do not discriminate in either devising or implementing policy. But appeasement of the worst kind has happened in the past, an example of which is the opposition to the decriminalisation of triple talaq. In West Bengal, Hindus are not being able to hold Durga Puja .”

