Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Even as the Samawadi Party (SP) swung into action to control the law and order situation in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar district, the Congress on Monday sought to link the rise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as BJP’s would be PM candidate with the communal violence in western UP.

Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said, "Modi not yet declared as PM & such incidents (Muzaffarnagar) happening, people fear whether BJP is trying to turn UP into Gujarat."

The Congress leader also attacked the Samajwadi Party government by saying, "UP Govt has failed to maintain law & order & communal harmony in state."

The death toll in the communal clashes has risen to 28.

In a bid to control the situation, a worried Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav asked the official to act tough while curfew remain clamped in the riot-hit areas.

The clashes were sparked off after a huge convention of a particular community was organised in the town on Sunday to protest against several cases of sexual harassment reported in the past couple of weeks.

According to local police, some participants in this convention got into a fight with villagers on the outskirts of Muzaffarnagar. As this group got into town, some of those who had been beaten up started ransacking shops.

A TV journalist was also killed while he was covering the arson in Muzaffarnagar town. As many as 22 districts across the state have been put under curfew at various times in the past one year.

Four BJP MLAs and one former Congress MP are among the 40 people who have been booked for allegedly inciting communal violence.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Hukum Singh, who has been booked for Muzaffarnagar riots, denied making inflammatory statements.