In UP, Akhilesh looks the other way as IPS officer Thakur says Mulayam 'threatened' him

The more things change in Uttar Pradesh, the more they remain the same. In 2012, when Akhilesh Yadav took over as the new Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister – there were many who thought that the ‘young leader’ might actually change the system. After all, he changed the image of the Samajwadi Party, making it more technology savvy – giving it a Facebook page, a Twitter account and even a website. His first press conference after assuming the coveted office as the state’s youngest chief minister also focussed on how he wanted to change things. “Law and order is our priority and from today it’s our responsibility. Till now we have been levelling allegations on others,” he had said. “We will take utmost care to keep corrupt officials out of our scheme of things, as we have a definite agenda to implement in accordance with our election manifesto.” But his moves after that haven’t exactly matched up to his lofty words. On Saturday, senior IPS officer Amitabh Thakur filed a complaint with the police requesting to lodge an FIR against Mulayam Singh Yadav, alleging that the Samajwadi Party chief threatened him with dire consequences if he does not mend his ways. [caption id=“attachment_2338740” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav. AFP[/caption] Thakur, an IG rank officer, who had on Friday released an audio tape purportedly containing Mulayam’s voice, also wrote to Union Home Secretary seeking security cover for himself and his family. He also wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan with a similar request and has marked a copy of the letter to DGP Jagmohan Yadav. In the audio clip, which is just over two minutes long, the voice, purportedly of Mulayam, tells Thakur: “Ab aap sudhar jaiye, itta he keh diya maine (now you must mend your ways, I’ve told you as much)”. SP leader CP Rai quickly came to Mulayam’s aide and said: “I have not heard the audio but such an allegation appears to be doctored. He (Mulayam) is such a senior leader. I know him for past 30 years… He can never threaten anyone.” Ironically, even before the dust had settled on Thakur’s FIR ‘request,’ an FIR was registered against him with charges of rape in Gomti Nagar police station of Lucknow (UP). The matter comes to light a few days after the Uttar Pradesh government suspended five policemen, suspected to be involved in the murder of journalist Jagendra Singh in Shahjahanpur district, even as the family of Singh has sought a CBI probe into the incident. UP minister Ram Murti Verma, who has been accused of orchestrating the murder and was named in the FIR, is reportedly on the run and Akhilesh has chosen to maintain a strict silence on the issue. Of course, in the Thakur incident, one wonders whether he can truly act against his father, the man who installed him as CM. But the fact that there are different power centres in the UP government, only makes things more difficult for Akhilesh and affects his credibility in more ways than one. Mulayam Singh has a deep understanding of the religious and caste equations in UP but he also knows that he cannot show any signs of weakness. So if Thakur – a mere policeman – troubles him, he will simply be told in as many words. “Out of sight of the English-language media, various state-level political parties run their fiefs in ways that may not be very different from how Dawood Ibrahim may be running his. Rough and ready methods are the norm whenever the powerful are threatened by exposure or defiance by weaker members of the population,” wrote _Firstpost_ editor R Jaganathan in a piece recently . “Uttar Pradesh’s criminal-politician nexus is a byword in Indian folklore, and the Samajwadi party epitomises this rule by ganglords and mafia dons who are also ministers,” he further added. The 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots saw more than 45 being killed and thousands were displaced – allegedly through through deliberate neglect, the Badaun rape case (which was incidentally passed off as a suicide by the CBI) also comes to mind. According to a 2014 report by the National Crime Record Bureau, the state with the highest population, was termed as the “worst state” in India in terms of law and order. The NCRB data also revealed that only 1.8 lakh police personnel were available to take care of the 21-crore huge population of Uttar Pradesh. Assembly elections will take place in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh – enough time to set things right or perhaps like the BSP be forced to quietly embrace the shadows. Either way, Akhilesh will need to decide now before things spiral completely out of control.