LUCKNOW: Alleging “differential treatment”, the Bharatiya Janata Party questioned Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav 's discretion over distribution of compensation saying why Rs 45 lakh, three flats and jobs were doled out to Akhlaq's family members while family members of Gaurav received only Rs 10 lakh compensation.

It may be recalled, 50-year-old Akhlaq was lynched over allegations of storing and consuming beef at Dadri in Greater Noida on September 28, while 22-year-old youth Gaurav succumbed to bullet injuries on Friday after violence broke out in Aligarh on Diwali night over bursting of crackers. According to chief medical officer SAH Zaidi, “Gaurav could have been saved if blood loss was prevented by bringing him here on time.”

Even when both incidents were similar in nature, why were Gaurav's family members not given compensation at par with Akhlaque's kin, BJP's Aligarh MP Satish Gautam said, speaking to TOI.

“I am writing a letter to the chief minister demanding Gaurav's family members be given compensation at par with Akhlaq,” Gautam added. A chief minister is of the state, not of any particular community, he said.

Etah MP Rajveer Singh, son of Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh told TOI he has taken time with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on this and other issues on November 18.

“The chief minister has assured me he would give full cooperation to the family members of Gaurav,” Rajveer Singh added.

Aligarh Mayor Shakuntala Bharti said why there was so much bias between Hindu and Muslim, adding that a chief minister vows to remain unbiased while taking charge. She hoped the chief minister would adhere to the demand of the BJP leaders. If the CM fails to adhere to the demands, further course of action would be decided as per the directive of the state unit of the BJP, Bharti told TOI.

State BJP also hit out at the SP government claiming that communal clashes in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh and Agra took place because of failure of government machinery. BJP not only condemns but protests against biased distribution of compensation, BJP spokesman Manoj Misra said, adding that undue favours to members of a particular community resulted in anti-social elements having a field day. The police and administration failed to set up their authority in the state in general and western UP in particular, said Misra.

