Congress Joins Poster War in UP, Lists Criminal Cases Against BJP Leaders, Including Adityanath

New Delhi: The poster war in Uttar Pradesh has escalated after Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress put up posters against the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government at major road intersections in Lucknow on Saturday.

The posters targeted the Chief Minister, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and few other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, listing out

the history of criminal cases against them, asking: “When will money be recovered from these rioters.”

The Congress's poster came a day after a SP leader put up posters and a hoarding naming rape-accused ex-Union minister Chinmayanand and Unnao rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar, also a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. The posters warned the "daughters of the state against them for their safety."

The Congress's hoarding, on the other side, targeted Adityanath and other BJP leaders who are facing riot charges. The names of six different BJP leaders were listed on the back of the in poster, which carried images of Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal, MLA Sangeet Som, MP Sanjeev Balyan, MLA Umesh Malik, Minister in UP authorities Suresh Rana and Sadhvi Pragya. All these BJP leaders have been accused of rioting in Gorakhpur and Muzaffarnagar.

It may be noted that state capital Lucknow turned into a battleground of posters after the Adityanath government put up banners and hoardings in a bid to ‘name and shame’ some anti-CAA protesters across the city, displaying their photographs, names and other details.

The hoardings were put up on March 6 in areas that fall under the jurisdiction of four police stations – Hazratganj, Thakurganj, Hasanganj and Qaiserbagh.

The accused were asked to pay Rs 64 lakh or get their properties seized.

The UP government had erected posters of anti-CAA protesters in Lucknow after which the Allahabad High Court had taken suo motu cognisance and ruled that the hoardings should be removed by the administration.

The state government, then, moved the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court order which on Thursday stated that there was no law so far that could back their action of putting up such roadside posters. However, the apex court bench refused to stay the March 9 order of the Allahabad High Court and referred the matter to a larger bench.

Yogi Govt Passed Ordinance 

In what is being seen as a battle of egos, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Friday, March 13, passed the Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damage to Public and Private Properties Ordinance 2020.

Legal experts and civil society have, however, raised questions about the timing of the ordinance arguing that it was passed by the cabinet ministers only to save themselves from further embarrassment in the Supreme Court.

Earlier, the apex court had questioned the Government of Uttar Pradesh about which law the government had adhered to for putting up the hoardings with the picture of the alleged rioters in Lucknow.

Reacting over the poster war, social activist Amit told NewsClick, "This is a bid to counter UP CM Yogi Adityanath's move to put up 'name and shame' posters of the alleged anti-CAA protesters in Lucknow. Congress also installed similar posters all over the city accusing several BJP leaders of instigating riots. This is bound to happen if the government makes it an ego issue and names and shames people publicly."

Accusing the BJP government of “arrogance and proving themselves above law,” he said: "The Yogi government is trying to prove from the day they came to power that they are above law and has turned UP into a "banana republic".